Ukraine targets Moscow ahead of military parade

Moscow’s four airports were forced to close temporarily as Ukraine launched a second night of drone attacks on the Russian capital just days ahead of a major military parade marking the end of the Second World War.

- ANDY GREGORY

Russia’s defence ministry said it had been forced to down 19 drones over Moscow, out of more than 100 fired at targets across Russia overnight on Monday.

Flights were halted for several hours overnight at all four airports serving Moscow to ensure air safety, Russia’s aviation watchdog said, while airports in a number of regional cities were also closed. No major destruction or injuries were reported, Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

But just hours later, two of the airports were again forced to halt flights yesterday evening, according to local reports, as Mr Sobyanin claimed that three further drones heading towards Moscow had been shot down.

China’s president Xi Jinping is among those expected to travel to Moscow for the parade on 9 May. Kyiv has urged against such a move – warning that any such participation would go against countries’ declared neutrality in the war.

Despite this, the Kremlin claimed yesterday that it expected 29 foreign leaders to be present at the parade, many of them neighbours with necessary and historic ties to Moscow, as well as countries such as Brazil, Egypt, Serbia, Vietnam, Zimbabwe and Venezuela. Military units from 13 countries will also attend, the Kremlin said.