Central Moscow was attacked by a drone for the third time in three months, in what Russian officials describe a "act of international terrorism" by Kyiv.
“Drone attacks on two non-residential buildings occurred at roughly 4 a.m. [Moscow time], causing no major damage or casualties,” Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin wrote on Telegram on the morning of July 24.
One drone was shot down in downtown Moscow, according to officials reported by Russia's TASS news agency, and a second impacted an office building in one of the city's southern districts.
According to reports, the first drone was shot down less than 1.5 kilometers from a Defense Ministry headquarters.
The Russian Defense Ministry, for its part, accused Kyiv of orchestrating a "terrorist attack" on "Moscow facilities."
The attack included two airborne drones, which were both eliminated by electronic jamming devices before impacting their targeted targets, according to the report.
However, the apparent targets of the attack are still unknown.
Later, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman called the event a "act of international terrorism."
While Kyiv did not explicitly take responsibility, Ukrainian officials hailed the attack.
“Today at night, drones attacked the capital of ‘the Orcs’ [a derogatory term for Russians] and Crimea,” Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said.
“Electronic warfare and air defenses are already less able to defend the skies of the occupiers,” Mr. Fedorov wrote on Telegram.
“No matter what happens,” he added, “there will be more of this.”
It was hardly the first drone strike on the Russian capital since Moscow invaded Ukraine early last year.
Two airborne drones assaulted the Kremlin on May 2, although neither did major damage. A similar attack on three residential buildings in central Moscow occurred on May 30.
Russian officials blamed both strikes on Kyiv at the time and pledged to react.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a prominent Ukrainian presidential adviser, denied Kyiv's involvement in the May 30 drone assault but said, "We are pleased to watch."
He also predicted that similar assaults will occur in the future.
Following the previous two assaults on Moscow, the U.S. The State Department stated unequivocally that it "does not support attacks [by Ukraine] within Russian territory."
The State Department has failed to reply to The Epoch Times' inquiry on the new attack.
