A Pantsir S-1 missile system (NATO reporting name: SA 22 Greyhound) is seen on the roof of the main building of the Russian Defense Ministry on March 1, 2023, in Moscow, Russia. (Contributor/Getty Images)
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Dec. 19 that air defenses near the Russian capital had shot down a drone as it approached the city.
He claimed that there were no casualties or damage as a result.
Earlier in the day, Russian media reported that three drones had been shot down over Kaluga Oblast and another in the skies above Bryansk Oblast.
Three airports that serve Moscow – Domododovo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky – were temporarily closed for security reasons.
Russia's Defense Ministry said that the drones were Ukrainian.
Kyiv has repeatedly targeted military infrastructure in Russia and Russian-occupied territories. It does not typically comment on claims of drone strikes within Russia immediately.
Nate Ostiller is a former News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. He works on special projects as a researcher and writer for The Red Line Podcast, covering Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and focused primarily on digital misinformation, memory politics, and ethnic conflict. Nate has a Master’s degree in Russian and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, and spent two years studying abroad at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Originally from the USA, he is currently based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
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American officials have put forward the idea of expanding the Gaza 'Board of Peace' to include other countries affected by war and conflicts, including Ukraine and Venezuela, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Jan. 16.
Germany turned away a Russian-linked oil tanker from entering its territorial waters in the Baltic Sea this week, marking the first known instance of a European country blocking a vessel in Moscow's shadow fleet, Bloomberg reported Jan. 16.
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Roskomnadzor, the Russian federal agency responsible for monitoring mass media and telecommunications, has imposed new restrictions on the Telegram messaging app, Moscow 24 reported Jan. 16.
