Ukraine on Tuesday hit the Moscow region in series of drone strikes that killed one woman, destroyed dozens of homes and forced some 50 flights to be rerouted from the Russian capital, reporting by Reuters confirmed. The attack on Moscow was reportedly the largest drone strike levied by Kyiv at Russia since the war began more than two and half years ago. Russia, which has heavily relied on drones and missiles in its assault against Ukraine and routinely pummels Kyiv with a barrage of aerial assaults, said it destroyed at least 20 Ukrainian drones over the Moscow region along with another 124 across eight other regions. A residential building outside of Moscow after it was hit in a series of drone strikes by Ukraine on Sept. 10, 2024. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov suggested the attacks levied at the Russian capital, which has a population of some 21 million, were not legitimate military targets.

Ukraine attacked Moscow on Wednesday with at least 11 drones that were shot down by air defenses in what Russian officials called one of the biggest drone strikes on the capital since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022. The war -- largely a grinding artillery and drone battle across the fields, forests and villages of eastern Ukraine -- escalated on Aug. 6 when Ukraine sent thousands of soldiers over the border into Russia's western Kursk region. For months, Ukraine has also fought an increasingly damaging drone war against the refineries and airfields of Russia, the world's second largest oil exporter, though major drone attacks on the Moscow region -- with a population of over 21 million -- have been rarer.

Russian air defence has repelled a new drone attack on Moscow, the city's mayor said, the latest of several attempts to attack the Russian capital with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) this week. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said early on Saturday that a drone was destroyed by air defence systems over the Istra district west of Moscow. Emergency services were at the scene and there have been no initial reports of damage or casualties, Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app. Russia's military has reported that Ukrainian drones and a missile attack have repeatedly targeted Russian territory over the course of the past week, and three Moscow's airports – Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo – suspended flights temporarily as a result. Flights were disrupted at Moscow's airports on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, according to reports.

Russian air defence systems have brought down two combat drones west of the Russian capital, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. The drones were downed early on Tuesday over the Moscow region's towns of Krasnogorsk and the settlement of Chastsy, Sobyanin said. One in the Krasnogorsk area, the other in the Chastsy area," he Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that emergency services were responding. The Moscow mayor did not give details on damage or casualties in what is the latest attempted drone raid on the Russian capital. Air traffic at Moscow's Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo airports was briefly halted, Russia's state news agency TASS reported, quoting an aviation service source as saying. "Glass damage was recorded on several floors" in a multi-storey residential building in Krasnogorsk," the news agency said, without specifying whether it was the result of a drone strike.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered officials to tighten control of the border with Ukraine after a spate of drone attacks that Russian authorities blamed on Kyiv delivered a new challenge to Moscow a year after its full-scale invasion of its neighbour. One drone crashed on Tuesday just 100km (60 miles) southeast of Moscow in an alarming development for Russian defences. While Putin didn't refer to any specific attacks in a speech in the Russian capital, he stepped up border controls hours after drone attacks targeted several areas in southern and western Russia and authorities closed the airspace over St Petersburg in response to what some reports said was a drone. Also on Tuesday, several Russian television stations aired a missile attack warning that officials blamed on hacking. The drone attacks caused no casualties but provoked a security stir after the war in Ukraine marked its first anniversary last week.

Video: Yandex's autonomous car hits Moscow's streets. Transportation is about to get a technology-driven reboot. The details are still taking shape, but future transport systems will certainly be connected, data-driven and highly automated. With harsh winters, drivers who constantly switch lanes, traffic jams and occasional crashes, the Russian capital of Moscow provides a challenging setting for testing autonomous cars. "In Moscow, the guys behind you honk the horn even before the traffic lights turn green," says Dmitry Polishchuk, head of Yandex's driverless car project.