News24 | Ukraine launches more than 400 drones toward Moscow

Ukraine launched more than 400 drones toward Russia’s capital, Moscow, the city’s mayor said on Tuesday, ahead of a crucial NATO summit in Turkey in which the war will likely dominate talks.

The attacks underscore Kyiv’s use of long-range drones in the more than four-year war, with Russian border areas coming under fire and Moscow facing increasing drone attacks.

“From evening until 6:00am (03:00 GMT), more than 430 drones were flying in the direction of Moscow region,” Mayor Sergei Sobyanin posted on the state-backed MAX platform.

“Most were neutralised by air defence forces at distant approaches. 36 enemy UAVs were destroyed on approach to Moscow.”

Acting Belgorod regional governor Aleksandr Shuvaev said several Ukrainian missile strikes had targeted Belgorod city in the south-west and the surrounding district.

READ | Russia strikes on Ukraine destroy 15 residential buildings, kill 10 people

“In the village of Belovskoye, Belgorod district, a civilian resident was, sadly, killed as a result of the first missile strike,” Shuvaev said on MAX.

It comes after Russian strikes killed 30 people in Ukraine on Monday, a day ahead of a crucial two-day NATO summit.

This war is changing. Today, peace and victory are on the side of those who are smarter. It is very difficult for us, but our fighters have stopped the war on the battlefield – the line of contact – with their lives. The war continues, but the front is no longer moving. When the… pic.twitter.com/iKeZrexf22

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky decried the “brutal strike”, saying that “the Russians’ tactics are unchanged: To inflict as much pain and damage as possible on Ukrainians and on Ukraine.”

In the northeastern city of Sumy, Russian drone strikes killed two people on Monday, the Ukrainian regional military administration said.

He said Kyiv was successful in shooting down drones and cruise missiles but had “not enough means of defence” against hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles.

“It is simply absurd that in the modern world, production has still not been organised to the extent that is necessary to protect people from ballistic terror,” he said in the aftermath of the strikes.

📝 On the agenda at this week’s #NATOsummit ↓ ✧ Investing in defence✧ Increasing defence industrial production✧ Continued support for UkraineCheck the threaded posts for more info ↓ pic.twitter.com/4DHCn51mMd

He said Kyiv expected “decisions” on Ukrainian air defence at the NATO summit in Turkey.

Russia’s defence ministry said the “massive strike” had targeted what it described as “military-industrial enterp