Drones Strike Moscow at Dawn

Russia says Ukraine sent at least eight drones to Moscow in an early morning "terrorist attack." There were no serious injuries and only minor damage to buildings reported Tuesday, the BBC reports, noting Ukraine has denied involvement. Russia said all drones were intercepted. "Three of them were suppressed by electronic warfare, lost control and deviated from their intended targets. Another five drones were shot down by the Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile system in the Moscow region," according to the defense ministry. City residents took to social media to describe explosions beginning around 6:30am local time.

The attacks came in some of Moscow's wealthiest neighborhoods, including in a western part of the city where Russian President Vladimir Putin has a home. Putin was working at the Kremlin, according to a spokesperson. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said two people sought medical assistance after two residential buildings were struck, per the BBC and Washington Post. He added residents were evacuated but have since returned home.

"Of course we have no direct involvement," said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, though he added Ukraine was "pleased to watch" the events unfold, per the BBC and Reuters. The head of Ukraine's military intelligence, Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, had warned of revenge following a spate of Russian drone attacks on Kyiv over Sunday and Monday, which left at least one person dead. "All those who tried to intimidate us, dreaming that it would have some effect, you will regret it very soon," Budanov had said, per the BBC. "Our answer will not be long."

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Kyiv said four people died and another 34 were injured around Ukraine as a result of Russian attacks on Tuesday, per Reuters, showing Ukrainians have much more to fear than those in Moscow. But Tuesday's drone attacks serve to bring the war closer to home for Russians. "Lawmaker Maxim Ivanov called it the most serious assault on Moscow since the Nazis," as Reuters reports. He added no citizen could avoid "the new reality." "You will either defeat the enemy as a single fist with our Motherland, or the indelible shame of cowardice, collaboration, and betrayal will engulf your family," he said. (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)