War in Ukraine: rare drone strike damages building in Moscow, days before May 9 ceremony

An attack a few days before the May 9 ceremony, which celebrates the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany. Russia was the target of an air attack on the night of Sunday May 3 to 4. A Ukrainian drone struck a residential building in Moscow, damaging the building without causing any injuries, the mayor of the Russian capital Sergei Sobyanin announced on Telegram.

This attack – rare in Moscow – comes a few days before the celebrations of “Victory Day”, on May 9 to celebrate the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945. Every year, a military parade is organized in the Russian capital, on Red Square.

This Saturday, the parade will take place without military equipment for fear of a long-range air attack launched from Ukraine. At the end of April, the Ministry of Defense cited “the current operational situation” to justify that no armored vehicle or missile system would parade. Cadets from military schools and military youth institutions will also not participate in the event, he said.

“No one was injured”

The Ukrainian drone early this Monday “targeted a building” on Mosfilmovskaya Street, west of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin wrote on Telegram. “No one was injured,” he said. Three hours after this message, the councilor indicated that a second attack had been “repelled by the air defense forces of the Ministry of Defense”.

“Emergency teams are at the site where the debris crashed,” added Sergei Sobyanin.

Russian television channel Vesti broadcast images showing a damaged apartment, with collapsed walls and broken doors.

Since the start of its offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has regularly bombed the entire Ukrainian territory and in particular its essential infrastructure.

In retaliation, kyiv strikes targets in Russia, claiming to target military sites but also hydrocarbon infrastructures in order to reduce the possibility for Moscow to finance its war effort.

If the Moscow region is regularly the subject of Ukrainian drone attacks, Moscow itself is more rarely targeted. Ukraine, which is trying to repel the offensive against its territory, had sought to disrupt last year’s May 9 parade with drone attacks targeting Moscow in the days before.