Russian air defences destroy Ukrainian drone headed for Moscow, mayor says


(Reuters) -Russian air defences destroyed two Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow late on Thursday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

Sobyanin, writing on the Telegram messaging app, made no mention of casualties or damage, but said specialists were examining the area where drone fragments fell to the ground. Sobyanin said on Wednesday that three drones had been intercepted.

The federal aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, briefly ordered the suspension of operations at two airports near the capital, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky, but operations were later resumed.

Operations were halted well after midnight at a third Moscow airport, Vnukovo.

Russia's Defence Ministry said air defence units had destroyed 46 Ukrainian drones over a period extending four hours in the evening, including the single drone over the Moscow region.

Most of the others were downed in areas near Ukraine, including 31 over Bryansk region and 10 over Crimea, a region annexed by Russia since 2014.

(Reporting by Ronald Popeski; Editing by Sandra Maler and Matthew Lewis)

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