Ukraine launched a barrage of drone strikes at Moscow, in one of the biggest attacks on Russia’s capital.
A total of 45 drones were downed in numerous regions overnight yesterday, in what the Kremlin called a nationwide attack.
But the focus on Moscow will incense Vladimir Putin, who is already under pressure over Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.
News footage showed drones whirring over the Moscow area’s dawn sky before being shot down.
Ukraine has waged a drone war against Kremlin oil refineries and airfields for months. But major attacks on the Moscow region are rarer.
Russia’s defence ministry said it destroyed 11 craft over Moscow, 23 over the Bryansk border region, six in Belgorod, three over Kaluga and two in Kursk. Some were destroyed over the city of Podolsk, 24 miles south of the Kremlin. No casualties or damage were reported.
Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said: “This is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow using drones ever.” In Ukraine a 15-year-old boy died and four youngsters were injured when a Russian missile hit a children’s cafe in Malokaterynivka, in the Zaporizhzhia region.
A teenage girl was said to be in a serious condition in hospital last night.
Ukraine accused Moscow of a war crime. Regional military administration chief, Ivan Fedorov, said: “The terrorist state mutilates civilians and will not even stop at children. We must stop this.”
Ukraine prosecutor-general, Andriy Kostin, said: “This is yet another crime by Russia that goes beyond the bounds of humanity.”
Kyiv says more than 500 children have been killed and 1,300 injured since Russia invaded in 2022.
Meanwhile, Russia’s military said it had captured the town of Niu-York in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.