Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of attempted drone attacks on capitals Moscow and Kyiv
Authorities in Moscow said the Russian capital was attacked by drones Tuesday, accusing Ukraine of attacking civilian homes. Separately, Russia launched yet another pre-dawn air raid targeting Ukraine's capital, killing at least one person and again sending Kyiv's residents scrambling into shelters to escape a relentless wave of daylight and nighttime bombardments, Ukrainian officials said.
"This morning the Kyiv regime carried out a terrorist attack with drones on targets in the city of Moscow. Eight drones were used in the attack. All of the enemy drones were downed," Russia's defense ministry said on social media Tuesday.
"We have spoken about hitting command centers in Ukraine," Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday, neglecting to mention the other targets his military has hit for months, including civilian homes and other infrastructure. "In response, the Kyiv regime has chosen a different path, the path of trying to frighten Russia, frighten the citizens of Russia and of strikes on residential buildings."
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the apparent drone attack on Moscow, but it comes after a rise in attacks on Russian soil, mostly targeting security and energy infrastructure, claimed by dissident Russian groups.
CBS News senior foreign correspondent Debora Patta said an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged that Kyiv was watching the attacks inside Russia with pleasure and believed they would increase, but insisted Ukraine's government had nothing to do with the incidents.
Ukraine's air force, meanwhile, said Russian forces had sent 31 Shahed drones hurtling toward the Ukrainian capital, 29 of which were shot down, "almost all of them near the capital and in the Kyiv skies" in Russia's third attack on the city in just 24 hours.
In Moscow, residents reported hearing explosions and Mayor Sergei Sobyanin later confirmed there had been a drone attack.
Sobyanin said in a Telegram post that the attack caused "insignificant damage" to several buildings. Two people received medical attention for unspecified injuries but did not need hospitalization, he said. Residents of two buildings damaged in the attack were evacuated, Sobyanin added.
Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the wider Moscow region, later said several drones were "shot down on the approach to Moscow.
It was the second reported attack on Moscow: Authorities said two drones targeted the Kremlin earlier this month in what was labeled an attempt on President Vladimir Putin's life.
A spokesperson for the State Department said the U.S. was still gathering information on the alleged drone attack inside Russia, reiterating that the U.S. is "focused on providing Ukraine with the equipment and training they need to retake their own sovereign territory."
Biden administration officials have said previously that the U.S. does not support attacks inside Russia.
The U.S. State Department official noted Tuesday that Russia, meanwhile, had launched its "17th round of air strikes on Kyiv this month, many of which have devastated civilian areas."
In the attacks overnight on Kyiv, one person died and three were injured when a high-rise building in the Holosiiv district caught fire, according to Ukrainian officials. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the blaze but frequently, the falling debris from drones being hit and the interceptor missiles have caused damage on the ground.
The building's upper two floors were destroyed and there may be people under the rubble, the Kyiv Military Administration said. More than 20 people were evacuated.
Resident Valeriya Oreshko told The Associated Press in the aftermath that even though the immediate threat was over, the attacks had everyone on edge.
"You are happy that you are alive, but think about what will happen next," the 39-year-old said.
Oksana, who only gave her first name, said the whole building shook when it was hit.
"Go to shelters, because you really do not know where it (the drone) will fly," she advised others. "We hold on."
Elsewhere in the capital, falling debris caused a fire in a private house in the Darnytskyi district and three cars were set alight in the Pechersky district, according to the military administration.
The series of attacks that began Sunday included a rare daylight attack Monday that left puffs of white smoke in the blue skies.
On that day, Russian forces fired 11 ballistic and cruise missiles at Kyiv at about 11:30 a.m., according to Ukraine's chief of staff, Valerii Zaluzhnyi. All of them were shot down, he said.
Debris from the intercepted missiles fell in Kyiv's central and northern districts during the morning, landing in the middle of traffic on a city road and also starting a fire on the roof of a building, the Kyiv military administration said. At least one civilian was reported hurt.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it launched a series of strikes early Monday targeting Ukrainian air bases with precision long-range air-launched missiles. The strikes destroyed command posts, radars, aircraft and ammunition stockpiles, it claimed. It didn't say anything about hitting cities or other civilian areas.
Oleksandr Ruvin, Kiyv's chief forensic investigator, told CBS News that as Ukraine prepares for a looming counteroffensive, Russia appears to be targeting his country's air defense network, and those attacks have become more frequent.