‘Ukrainian kamikaze drone’ slams into Moscow in fireball explosion three miles from the Kremlin damaging city’s main exhibition centre

• The drone hit and damaged the Moscow Expo Centre close to skyscraper zone

A new suspected Ukrainian kamikaze drone strike led to a major explosion at Moscow’s main exhibition centre.

Russian officials claimed a UAV exploded after it was disrupted from another target by air defences.

The drone hit and damaged the Moscow Expo Centre on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment, on the edge of the city’s skyscraper zone which was previously targeted by Ukraine.

A video from Mash media outlet shows a major explosion and flash as the drone hit the low building which is close to the main White House office building of the Russian government.

All major airports in the city were temporarily closed.

A new kamikaze drone attack led to a major explosion at Moscow’s main exhibition centre, and the temporary closure of all the city’s main airports

The explosion is seen in this security cam footage

Damage at the expo centre is seen this morning

Office workers stand in a gathering area outside an Expocentre building following a drone attack in Moscow on August 18, 2023

Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin said air defences had ‘destroyed’ the drone and wreckage had fallen which cause ‘no significant damage’ to the exhibition pavilion.

But the footage showed a main explosion at the Expo Centre, around one mile from the British Embassy in Moscow.

A wall collapsed at the pavilion.

A resident named Maria said: ‘We live in the tower opposite, on the 68th floor.

‘We heard a bang and saw a flash.

‘At first we thought it had hit the Federation Tower [skyscraper], but it turned out to be the Expo Centre.

‘We could see a column of smoke from our windows.’

Another eyewitness said: ‘We were sitting on the embankment at the time – we didn’t see the drone itself, but we heard a very loud noise, then smoke was billowing from the other side.’

A resident said: ‘My windows overlooking [the strike] were open.

‘I felt a blast wave – it became hot right in my flat. I’m in shock.’

The drone attack led to the temporary closure of Vnukovo international airport, used by Vladimir Putin and other top Russian officials, as well as other major airports Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky.

It is the latest example of Putin’s much-vaunted air defences failing to prevent strikes on his capital city.

The Expo Centre in Moscow

This photo shows the damaged Expocentre building following a drone attack in Moscow on August 18, 2023

The Expocentre building (foreground) is seen past residential buildings following a drone attack in Moscow on August 18, 2023. Russia’s defence ministry said its air force downed a Ukrainian drone over the capital at about 04:00 (0100 GMT) on August 18

People and workers stand in line to enter a building of Expocentre following a drone attack in Moscow on August 18, 2023

The Russian defence ministry portrayed the 4am drone strike as a ‘another terrorist attack using an unmanned aerial vehicle against targets in Moscow’.

A statement said: ‘The UAV changed its flight trajectory after being hit by air defence weapons and crashed into a non-residential building near Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment in Moscow.

‘There were no casualties or fires.’

Reports later said the damage covered some 325 square feet.

Initial reports suggested the drone had come close to the 1,226ft Federation Tower, the Russian capital’s tallest tower, part of the Moscow City business and residential skyscraper zone, a district earlier targeted.

Separately, Russia admitted a Ukrainian attack on vessels of its Black Sea Fleet some 147 miles southwest of naval base Sevastopol in annexed Crimea.

‘In the course of repelling the attack, the unmanned boat of the enemy, without reaching the target…was destroyed by fire from onboard weapons of the Black Sea Fleet ships,’ said a Russian defence ministry statement.

The incident involved the patrol ships Inquisitive and Vasily Bykov.

Kyiv did not immediately comment on the Russian statement.

Russia also said it had repelled a Ukrainian drone attack in Belgorod region.

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