Ukraine combat drone damages building in central Moscow, Russia says

A Ukrainian military drone crashed into a Moscow city building after it was shot down by air defence systems in the latest attack on the Russian capital by unmanned aerial vehicles.

A Ukrainian military drone crashed into a Moscow city building after it was shot down by air defence systems in the latest attack on the Russian capital by unmanned aerial vehicles.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that air defence systems had shot down a drone early on Friday morning and debris had fallen on buildings in the city’s Expo Center complex.

The Expo Center – a large event space used for major exhibitions and conferences – is located less than 5km (3.1 miles) from the Kremlin.

A video published by Russian media outlets showed thick smoke rising next to skyscrapers in the city.

The Russian defence ministry said that Ukraine launched the drone attack at about 4am local time (01:00 GMT) “using an unmanned aerial vehicle against objects located in Moscow and the Moscow region”.

“The UAV, after being exposed to air defence weapons, changed its flight path and fell on a nonresidential building in the Krasnopresnenskaya embankment area of Moscow,” the ministry said on Telegram.