Russian anti-aircraft units down drones in Moscow, other regions

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(Reuters) -Russian anti-aircraft units between Monday night and Tuesday morning downed 33 Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow as well as dozens more in Russian-held Crimea and other parts of western Russia, officials said.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, in posts on the Telegram messaging app, said the drones were destroyed en route to the city over a period of about twelve hours. Experts were examining debris on the ground, he said.

Flights were delayed and cancelled at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, Russia’s largest by passenger numbers. Russian national carrier, Aeroflot, said it planned to fully resume normal operations at the airport by the end of Tuesday.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Telegram that its anti-aircraft units had destroyed 81 Ukrainian drones, by midnight local time (2100 GMT), and another 69 between midnight and 0700 local time (0400 GMT).

Reuters was unable to independently verify the reports.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the governor of the port of Sevastopol in Crimea, home of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, said anti-aircraft units had destroyed at least six drones near the port. Falling debris had triggered a fire on open ground, but this was extinguished.

The governor of Tula region in central Russia, Dmitry Milyayev, said three drones were downed with no damage or casualties.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, said that parents should keep their children at home, and that two shopping centres in the region were being temporarily closed.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Stephen Coates and Sharon Singleton)