A drone attack temporarily closed three Moscow region airports on Sunday as Ukraine stepped up efforts to give Muscovites a grim taste of the war that has ravaged Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began there almost 19 months ago.
Two of the airports halted air traffic for several hours before announcing that all airport activities had returned to normal by 8:30 a.m. local time, Russian state media reported. Another airport halted air traffic for about an hour. Dozens of flights have been canceled or delayed. Similar incidents the day before also briefly disrupted airport traffic, Tass reported.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said earlier Sunday that air defenses had shot down drones in Moscow’s Istria district, about 40 km west of downtown Moscow. Another drone was shot down in the Ramenky district. No casualties or serious damage were reported following the incidents, Sobyanin said.
Drone attacks damaged buildings, caused minor injuries and changed flight schedules for several weeks. Ukraine has not specifically claimed responsibility for the attacks, but has defended them out of a sense of fair play, citing the battering Ukrainian cities have suffered from Russian rockets and mortars since the start of the war.
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Developments:
◾The Ukraine Defense Contact Group will meet on Tuesday in Germany for its monthly update meeting. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is leading the meeting, the main global forum aimed at securing military support for Ukraine.
“The West must prepare for the reality that the war will last a long time and that if Ukraine stops fighting, its country will no longer exist,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Russian minister accuses US of directing war in Ukraine
The United States is dictating Ukraine’s military actions and pursuing its own war against Russia by supplying weapons to Kiev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Rossiya-1 television. Lavrov, speaking on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, was asked about US officials’ agreement to supply Ukraine with long-range shells containing depleted uranium.
“No matter what he says, he controls this war, he provides weapons, ammunition, intelligence, satellite data, he is waging a war against us,” Lavrov said. “Ukraine is prepared, has long been prepared to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia using its hands and bodies.”
North Korean munitions won’t change war, says US general
North Korea will likely soon begin supplying Russia with artillery shells and other weapons, but the lifeline the military is throwing to Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to change the course of the war, said America’s highest-ranking general. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it was still unclear when the munitions would be obtained by Moscow and how much North Korea could or was willing to provide . The aid was among the issues Putin raised with Kim Jong Un during his talks with the North Korean leader last week.
“Would that make a huge difference?” I’m skeptical of it,” Milley said. “I doubt it will be decisive.”
Contributor: Associated Press
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