MOSCOW, May 17 (Reuters) – A Ukrainian drone launched a major attack on Russian regions including Moscow, killing at least four people in the largest attack in more than a year.
Authorities said on Sunday that three people died in the Moscow region and one in the Belgorod region.
A woman was killed when a house was hit in Khimki, north of the capital, Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said, adding that rescuers were searching for another person in the rubble. Two men were killed in the village of Pogorerki, Mytishchi District. Several high-rise residential buildings and infrastructure were damaged, he said.
Air defense forces destroyed 81 drones flying to Moscow since midnight, the TASS news agency reported, citing Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, in the largest attack on the capital in more than a year.
Sobyanin said 12 people were injured, mostly near the entrance to the Moscow refinery, and three houses were damaged. He added that the refinery’s “technology” had not been compromised.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that 556 drones were shot down over the country between night and morning.
The country’s largest airport – Moscow Sheremetyevo – said debris from the drone fell on its territory and did not cause any damage.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldakin and Anton Kolodiazny; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and William Mallard)