Ukraine war: Russia closes Moscow airports after drone attack
Russia accuses Ukraine of drone attack days before WW2 parade
(about 7 hours later)
A previous drone attack on Moscow in March was Ukraine's largest on the city since the war began
A previous drone attack on Moscow in March was Ukraine's largest on the city since the war began in 2022
Russia says Ukraine has launched an overnight drone attack targeting Moscow for the second night in a row.
Russia says Ukraine launched a drone attack on Moscow days before the start of a ceasefire, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin to coincide with a World War Two parade.
All four of the capital's major airports were closed for several hours to ensure safety but later reopened, Russia's aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said on Telegram.
Moscow's four major airports shut for a few hours on Tuesday amid the barrage, authorities said. There were no casualties and Ukraine has not commented.
Moscow's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said on social media at least 19 Ukrainian drones had been destroyed before they reached the city "from different directions". He said some of the debris had landed on one of the key highways into the city, but there were no casualties.
Moscow is due to hold a parade on 9 May to mark the victory of the Soviet Union and allies over Nazi Germany. This year is the 80th anniversary of the end of WW2 and will see world leaders, including China's Xi Jinping, in Russia for the event.
Ukraine has not yet commented. But the mayor of Kharkiv said Russia had also carried out drone strikes in the city overnight, as well as in the Kyiv area.
Putin has called for a ceasefire from 8-10 May - something Ukraine has declined to commit to. Kyiv has called for a longer truce.
The governor of Ukraine's Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, said one person was killed in a drone strike.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pushing for a ceasefire of at least 30 days where there would be a halt to missile and drone strikes on civilian targets.
It is the second night in a row that Russia has reported a drone attack by Ukraine - on Monday, Russia's defence ministry said it had destroyed 26 Ukrainian drones overnight.
He has reportedly said his country cannot guarantee the safety of anyone travelling to Moscow this week.
Unconfirmed reports by Russian military bloggers suggested windows of an apartment in the south of Moscow were smashed.
"Our position is very simple for all countries traveling to Russia on May 9: We cannot be held responsible for what happens on the territory of the Russian Federation," Zelensky was quoted as saying over the weekend by Ukrainian news agency Interfax.
As well as in Moscow, the governors of other Russian cities, including Penza and Voronezh, also said they had been targeted by drones overnight into Tuesday.
He also warned that Russia could orchestrate provocations, including "arson, bombings and so on, only to blame us".
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, Kyiv has launched several drone attacks on Moscow. Its biggest attack in March killed three people.
The Kremlin had previously announced a 30-hour truce with Ukraine over Easter, where both sides reported a decrease in fighting, but accused each other of hundreds of violations.
It comes after reports on Monday of fresh attempts by Ukraine to cross into Russia's Kursk region.
Russian authorities said the Ukraine attack was the second in as many nights.
Kyiv said it had hit a drone command unit in the Kursk region on Sunday near the Russian village of Tyotkino, according to the Ukrainian general staff.
Moscow's mayor said at least 19 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted "from different directions". Sergei Sobyanin added that debris had landed on one of Moscow's key highways.
In April, Moscow said it had regained control of the entire region, nine months after a Ukrainian forces launched a surprise invasion. Kyiv insists it still has soldiers operating across the border.
The governors of other Russian cities, including Penza and Voronezh, also said they had been targeted.
Also in Kursk, Russian officials reported an electrical substation in the town of Rylsk lost power on Monday after being damaged in an attack by Ukraine.
Meanwhile Ukraine reported downing 54 drones launched overnight from Russia, and several strikes across the country including in Kyiv.
Two transformers at the substation in Rylsk had been damaged, according to acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
One person was killed in the Black Sea city of Odesa, while Kharkiv's regional head, Oleh Syniehubov, said 11 people had been injured and the city's central market had been destroyed in a fire.
He added two teenagers had been injured by shrapnel from the blast.
Meanwhile, fighting continues in Russia's Kursk region more than a week after Moscow said it had pushed Ukrainian troops out. Ukraine had denied that report and said its forces were still active there.
Multiple Russian military bloggers also reported that Ukrainian forces had attempted to cross into the village, posting images - as yet unverified by the BBC - of vehicles breaking through tank traps on the border.
A total of 200 combat engagements occurred between Ukrainian and Russian troops on Monday, Ukrainian military authorities said.
On Monday, Ukrainian forces fired missiles over the border and crossed minefields in special vehicles, according to the bloggers.
Ukraine pushed into the Russian border region in a surprise incursion last August, but has gained little ground.
"The enemy blew up bridges with rockets at night and launched an attack with armoured groups in the morning," blogger RVvoenkor said according to Reuters news agency.
"The mine clearance vehicles began to make passages in the minefields, followed by armoured vehicles with troops. There is a heavy battle going on at the border."
In a statement on Monday, Ukraine said: "Nine months after the start of the Kursk operation, Ukraine's Defence Forces maintain a military presence on the territory of Russia's Kursk region."
While there has been no official response from Moscow, some military bloggers have also published maps showing opposing forces attempting to cross the border in two places towards Tyotkino - near where the drone command unit that was hit.
Meanwhile, in Sumy - around 12km across the border from Tyotkino in north-eastern Ukraine - local authorities urged people to evacuate from two settlements, Reuters reported.
Ukraine originally made its surprise incursion into Kursk in August 2024 to create a buffer zone and protect Sumy and surrounding areas, while also hoping to use it as a bargaining chip in future negotiations.
