Drone hits office tower in Moscow: mayor

A drone hit an office tower in Moscow on Tuesday that was struck over the weekend, while at least one other drone was downed, the city's mayor said.

"Several drones were shot down by air defense systems while trying to fly to Moscow. One (drone) flew into the same tower in (Moscow) City as last time. The facade on the 21st floor was damaged," Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin posted on Telegram

"There is no information on casualties," he said, adding that emergency services were on the scene.


On Sunday, Russia said it had downed Ukrainian drones targeting the capital in an attack that damaged two office towers in Moscow-City, a business district.

Shortly after the drone attack, Moscow's Vnukovo international airport was briefly closed, TASS state news agency reported.

"Vnukovo was temporarily closed for arrivals and departures, the planes are redirected to other airports," emergency services said, according to TASS, which later reported that it had resumed normal operations.

Moscow and its environs, lying about 500 kilometres (310 miles) from the Ukrainian border, had rarely been targeted during the conflict in Ukraine until several drone attacks this year.

Sunday's attack is the latest in a series of recent drone assaults -- including on the Kremlin and Russian towns near the border with Ukraine -- that Moscow has blamed on Kyiv.

The Kremlin said that attack was "an act of desperation" by Ukraine due to setbacks on the battlefield.

Ukraine began its long-awaited counteroffensive in June but has made modest advances in the face of stiff resistance from Russian forces on the frontline.