Moscow, March 15 Russian air defense units destroyed 28 Ukrainian drones heading to attack the capital on Sunday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed here.
This is the second consecutive day that Russia has claimed to have shot down 16 Ukrainian drones heading to attack Moscow.
By noon on Sunday, Russian air defense units had destroyed 28 Ukrainian drones heading to attack the capital for the second day, Sobyanin said in his social media post.
The mayor, however, did not provide any details about damage or casualties on the ground.
Due to the wave of drone attacks, Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo international airports in southwest and northwest of the capital had suspended operations, the civil aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, announced.
On Saturday, three of the four local airports located in the capital – Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky – had also suspended operations for several hours, disrupting air traffic.
According to a Russian Defence Ministry statement on Saturday, 47 drones were destroyed as they approached Moscow.
On Saturday, between 11:00 am and 9:00 pm Moscow time, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 280 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying over the Bryansk, Kaluga, Belgorod, Tver, Smolensk, and Kursk regions, the Krasnodar Territory, and the Moscow region, the ministry said.
As part of preparedness against drone attacks, the Moscow city and the capital region have been selectively switching off mobile internet, and people have been advised to use applications available offline.