Ukrainian drone attacks forced Moscow to shut its airports overnight for the second night in a row, while a separate Russian missile strike killed at least one civilian in Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa.
Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said all four of Moscow’s main airports were temporarily closed, though they have since reopened.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed that at least 19 drones were intercepted by air defence systems as they approached the capital.
Across Russia, military officials claimed 105 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight. Regional governors in Penza and Voronezh also reported attempted strikes. Ukraine has not commented on the drone attacks.
The aerial assaults come days before a temporary ceasefire announced by Russia, scheduled from 8 to 11 May, to coincide with Victory Day commemorations.
The national holiday, which marks the Soviet Union’s 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany, includes major events in Moscow planned for Friday.
Despite the impending ceasefire, the conflict shows no signs of slowing.
Meanwhile on the Ukrainian side on Odesa, local authorities said a Russian missile struck private residential areas overnight, killing one person and igniting multiple fires.
Further north-east, Kharkiv came under a sustained Russian drone assault lasting more than two hours. Regional governor Oleh Synehubov said 20 drones struck in waves, sparking fires and leaving four civilians suffering from acute stress reactions.
Meanwhile, one man was seriously injured in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where local officials said Russia used both drones and anti-tank guided missiles in overnight and early morning strikes.
Ukraine’s military claimed it carried out a precision airstrike on a Russian drone command post near Tetkino in Russia’s Kursk region over the weekend, allegedly killing up to 20 personnel and destroying equipment.
In response, Kursk’s governor, Alexander Khinshtein, reported new casualties, he confirmed that three people had been killed in Ukrainian “attacks” in the region.
Seven others were taken to hospital. He also mentioned that Ukrainian drone strikes in the Glushkovsky district, near the border, had injured civilians, although it was unclear whether these were part of the same attack.
Ukrainian strike had damaged a power substation in the town of Rylsk, knocking out electricity and injuring two teenagers.
Despite diplomatic signals from Moscow, both sides continue to exchange heavy cross-border strikes, underscoring the fragile prospects for even a short-term pause in hostilities.
