Moscow drone attack damages buildings, mayor says

Russia has accused Ukraine of launching a series of early morning drone attacks on Moscow.

The Russian defence ministry said on Telegram that Kyiv had staged a "terrorist attack" using at least eight drones.

Officials said that minor damage had been caused to several buildings.

The capital city's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, says no-one was seriously injured. Emergency services were "at the scene of incidents", he said.

The defence ministry claimed that all the drones were intercepted.

"Three of them were suppressed by electronic warfare, lost control and deviated from their intended targets. Another five drones were shot down by the Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile system in the Moscow region," the ministry said.

Earlier, media reports had said as many as 30 drones were involved. Authorities have also said several of them fell on buildings after being downed.

There has been no comment from Kyiv, but on Monday, the head of Ukraine's military intelligence, Gen Kyrylo Budanov, warned of a swift response to a series of Russian missile strikes on Kyiv.

Images posted on social media showed traces of smoke in the sky above the Russian capital. Others showed a broken window.

Mr Sobyanin said that some residents were being evacuated. On Telegram, he also reported that two people had sought medical assistance.

The BBC's Russia editor Steve Rosenberg, who is based in Moscow, heard an explosion in the distance at 06:24 local time (03:24 GMT) in north-west Moscow, with the windows of his home shaking from the blast.

Another explosion was heard at 06:58, he says.

Judging by the conversations on social media, a lot of people in the Moscow area heard the explosions too, he adds.

Our correspondent also said the attacks would cause concern for local residents. He said that for many, the war in Ukraine had been something that was happening a "long way away, it was something that they saw on television".

The strikes on Moscow follow an overnight drone attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in which at least one person was reported killed.

Ukrainian officials said falling debris set buildings on fire as Ukraine's air defences intercepted more than 20 drones.

An alleged drone attack on the Kremlin took place in early May.

At the time, unverified footage circulated online showing smoke rising above the the complex, while a second video showed a small explosion above the site's Senate building.

Russian authorities claimed it was an attack ordered by Kyiv, while Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky denied his country was involved in the incident.