The Russian Ministry of Defence has said Moscow came under a "drone attack". Altough it claimed that the drones were neutralised by an anti-missile radar, the city's mayor said some buildings had been damaged.
According to him, two non-residential buildings were attacked at around 4 a.m., but there were allegedly no serious damages or casualties. According to media reports, the pieces of the devices were discovered on Komsomolsky Avenue where the Defence Ministry office is located.
The business centre in Likhachev Avenue was also damaged as windows on the 17th and 18th floors were smashed.
Bellingcat investigator Christo Grozev noted that the cybercrime headquarters of the Main Intelligence Directorate is located across the street from the attacked site.
Russian media report that a drone attacked buildings near Komsomolsky prospect 17 in Moscow; traffic down this avenue has been closed. What is interesting is that this address is just across from the headquarters of GRU's cyber offense (incl. FancyBear), among other mil. units pic.twitter.com/WtdxBPg5od
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) July 24, 2023
In the meantime, an adviser to the head of the presidential office, Mykhaylo Podolyak, said that today's attack is proof that the location of "secret" facilities in Russia is no secret.
At the beginning of July, the mayor of Moscow also stated that the Russian capital was attacked by drones. At the time, he said that they attacked the territory of a military unit. In May, up to 20 UAVs flew to Moscow and Moscow Region. It is not entirely clear who had launched the drones. Many UAVs flew in the direction of Barvikha, Novo-Ogaryovo and Rublyovka, "elite" Moscow suburbs. Some suggested these were Ukrainian drones. Almost all of them were shot down or collided with tall buildings. There were no victims.