Kyiv says Ukrainian forces are still active in Kursk despite Russian claims to the contrary.
Airports in Moscow briefly halted operations after a swarm of Ukrainian drones targeted the Russian capital in the early hours of May 6, according to Russian officials.
In a social media post, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said at least 19 drones, which had converged on the capital from different directions, had been downed by Russian air defenses.
The attack did not cause any deaths or injuries or significant material damage, Sobyanin said.
In the immediate wake of the attack, “temporary restrictions” were imposed at Moscow’s Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, and Zhukovsky airports, Russia’s TASS reported on May 6.
The state-owned news agency later reported that four people had been killed by an explosion and subsequent fire in an apartment building in southwestern Moscow.
As of publication time, it remained unclear whether the blast had been caused by an incoming Ukrainian drone.
In a statement cited by TASS, Russia’s defense ministry said that additional drones had been “eliminated” in several other parts of the country, including the regions of Bryansk, Voronezh, Penza, Kaluga, and Belgorod.
Kyiv has yet to comment on the reported attacks, which The Epoch Times could not independently verify.
Security remains especially tight in Moscow, which this week will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the allied victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a three-day unilateral cease-fire with Ukraine to mark the anniversary, which will fall on May 9.
According to Putin, the cease-fire will remain in effect from the beginning of May 8 to the end of May 10.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has derided the three-day cease-fire as pointless, calling instead for a month-long unconditional truce in line with an earlier U.S. peace proposal.
Russia says it wants a comprehensive settlement of the conflict, not a temporary pause in the fighting.
On May 6, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that Russian forces would “retaliate” if Kyiv violated the three-day cease-fire.
“There will be no hostilities,” he told reporters, as quoted by TASS. “However, if there is no reciprocity from the Kyiv regime and they continue to attack our positions or facilities, we will retaliate.”
By Adam Morrow