Updated with new downed drone count.
Russian air defense systems shot down seven Ukrainian drones outside Moscow, Russia’s military and regional authorities said Thursday.
The drones were intercepted while attempting to “fly through” western Russia’s Kaluga region overnight, Kaluga Governor Vladislav Shapsha wrote on the messaging app Telegram.
The Kaluga region lies southwest of Moscow and northeast of the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine and Belarus.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have foiled an “attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime” over the region.
Both Shapsha and the military said there were no casualties or damage as a result of the air defense operation.
Ukraine has not taken responsibility for the latest attacks, as with previous drone strikes on Russian territory.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday did say the war is “returning” to Russia following drone strikes on the Moscow City business development.
Russia’s independent media outlet Vyorstka said 12 out of the 28 drone strikes on Moscow and the Moscow region in the past three months have resulted in damage to homes and government facilities.
Recent strikes may be probing Russia’s air defenses in preparation for a “large-scale attack involving dozens of drones that would converge on [Moscow] from several directions and at different altitudes,” reported the Wall Street Journal, citing Center for Naval Analyses drone expert Samuel Bendett.
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