1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
ChristmasSyriaGerman election 2025
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV
ConflictsRussian Federation

Russia shoots down drone over central Moscow

August 18, 2023

The drone was downed near the Expo Center in Moscow, with no immediate casualties reported. It's the latest in a surge of drone attacks, with Russian officials blaming Ukraine.

https://p.dw.com/p/4VJ68
A police officer is seen in central Moscow
Russia has reported several drone attacks on Moscow in recent monthsImage: Alexander Ryumin/TASS/picture alliance

Officials in the Russian capital said a Ukrainian drone attack damaged a building in the central part of the city. The blast was heard across business district of Moscow, and a witness told Reuters news agency it was a "powerful explosion."

Footage from Russian news outlets showed smoke rising between skyscrapers. 

"Tonight, during an attempt to get to Moscow, the air defense forces destroyed a drone," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on Telegram adding that the debris fell on the Expo Center building.

"The wreckage of the UAV fell in the area of the Expo Center, and did not cause significant damage to the building," he said, adding there were no reports of injuries or deaths. The building is located about 5 kilometers from the Kremlin.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that Ukraine was behind the attempted attack, state media reported.

Kyiv has not yet commented on the incident.

It's the latest in a recent surge of drone attacks on Moscow amid Russia's war in Ukraine.

 

rs/jsi (Reuters, AFP)