Russia shoots down nearly 60 drones as Moscow airports reopen

MOSCOW: Moscow shot down dozens of drones in the early hours of Monday and briefly suspended flights at airports, local authorities said, just days after Ukraine hit the Russian capital’s oil refinery again.

Nearly 60 drones headed for Moscow were downed, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram. Sobyanin did not provide further details, adding that emergency services had been dispatched to areas where drones were downed.

The airports of Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo, as well as Zhukovskiy near the capital, had suspended flights, although flights were later resumed, the aviation watchdog said separately.

In total, Russian defence systems downed 301 drones overnight, local newswires said, citing the defence ministry. That tally included Russia-occupied areas.

The attack comes after drones again hit Moscow’s sole oil refinery last week. In that strike, Moscow’s defence systems shot down nearly 200 drones in one of the biggest air attacks on the city since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In Ukraine, two people were killed and six injured in separate Russian attacks overnight, local authorities said.

Russia hit the southern Odesa region with an Iskander ballistic missile on Sunday evening, killing one and injuring three people, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram. Vehicles and fuel storage tanks caught fire after the strike hit an agricultural facility, he said.

In the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, a woman was killed and three other people injured after a drone attack, Ivan Fedorov, the local governor, said on Telegram on Monday.

A Russian drone attack also hit a Turkish dry cargo vessel, the Victress, which was sailing under the Panamanian flag, the Ukrainian navy said, adding there were casualties among the nine-member international crew which it rescued.

Reuters could not independently verify the details.

Elsewhere, the city of Sevastopol in Russia-annexed Crimea cancelled all open-air public events on Monday and will keep street lights switched off, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the city governor, said on Telegram as he called on people to curb electricity usage.

Crimea, a popular tourist destination for Russians, has suspended fuel sales to the public and businesses, with supplies restricted to government agencies responsible for essential services and security, as Ukraine’s drone attacks on its supply routes and energy facilities elsewhere led to a fuel crisis.