Russia-Ukraine war: Putin accuses Kyiv of trying to intimidate civilians with Moscow drone attack – as it happened
Moscow has been targeted with a large-scale drone attack for the first time in its 15-month-old war in Ukraine, marking a new inflection point in a conflict that the Kremlin said would never threaten the lives of ordinary Russians.
Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of terrorist activity over Tuesday morning’s drone attacks and claimed Kyiv had chosen the path of intimidation of Russian citizens. He said that Ukraine had chosen the path of attempting “to intimidate Russia, Russian citizens [with] attacks on residential buildings” and added that the drone attacks were “clearly a sign of terrorist activity.”
Ukrainian presidential aide, Mykhailo Podolyak, earlier denied Ukraine was involved. However, he did he predict “an increase in the number of attacks”
One of the drones used in Tuesday morning’s drone raid on Moscow appears to have been a Ukrainian manufactured UJ 22 drone produced by the Ukrjet company. Alleged footage of the drone, captured in flight during the attack, appears to match released images of the unmanned aerial vehicle which Russia has claimed has been used in other attempted attacks.
James Cleverly, the UK’s foreign secretary, told reporters that Ukraine has the “legitimate right” to defend itself and can “project force” beyond its borders. At a news conference in Estonia on Tuesday, Cleverly said: “[Ukraine] has the legitimate right to do so within its own borders of course, but it does also have the right to project force beyond its borders to undermine Russia’s ability to project force into Ukraine itself.”
The Russian defence ministry said eight drones targeted the city overnight but Russian media close to the security services wrote that the number was many times higher, with more than 30 drones participating in the attack.
Three of the drones hit residential buildings in the south-west of the city but no explosions were reported. Two people were injured in the attack, said Sergei Sobyanin, the Moscow mayor, and the buildings sustained minor damage. Video showed broken windows and a blackened facade at one address hit by a drone early on Tuesday morning.
Russia blamed Kyiv for the attack. Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak denied Ukraine was involved, but said he predicted “an increase in the number of attacks”
Russia continues to pummel Ukraine with deadly missile and drone strikes on a near-daily basis. Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, faced its third air raid in 24 hours on Tuesday morning. Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, has confirmed that 20 residents were evacuated from a damaged building, and that one person died, four were injured. He cautioned residents against ignoring air alarms, urging residents to stay indoors, saying “do not go out to the balconies and streets to observe how the air defence works. Last night, a woman died in a house in Holosiivskyi district, who went out on the balcony to see how drones were shot down.”