Drones attack Black Sea, Crimea and parts of Russia where thousands suffered power cuts

Latest drone attacks affect air traffic as flights diverted from Moscow’s two major airports

Several parts of Russia, the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula came under drone attacks from Ukraine in the early hours on Monday, officials said as the strikes disturbed air traffic operations over Moscow’s two major airports.

The Russian air defence systems destroyed four Ukraine-launched drones over the northwestern part of the Black Sea and over the Crimean peninsula, its defence ministry said on Monday.

Another four drones were destroyed over Russia’s bordering cities Kursk and Belgorod, the ministry said in a separate post.

The officials did not immediately mention any damage or injuries as a result of the reported attacks.

Russia’s Tula region also came under drone attack in the early hours of Monday as the country engaged its air defence systems to repel strikes, officials said.

The air defence was activated over the region bordering Moscow to its north, reported Russian news agency RIA.

According to preliminary information, no damage or injuries were reported as a result of the attack, the Russian ministry of regional security said.

The latest morning attacks caused limitation of air traffic as two of Moscow’s major airports – the Vnukovo and Domedovo – trimmed down operations on Monday. Flights flying into these airports were redirected to other airports, the Tass state news agency reported.

A Russian city located right after like Bryansk and Kursk, cities that border Ukraine, Tula has witnessed increasing attacks and power outages recently.

In late August, the Russian defence ministry claimed its air defences destroyed two drones over the city, but did not provide further details on the damage and casualties from the interception, if any.

It also did not share any precise time and location of the attack.

Last week, a loud explosion rocked the Russian city and was followed by a major power outage affecting thousands of people in a district.

Local residents reported hearing sounds of an explosion in the vicinity right before the lights went out in Zarechensky district.

Around 5,000 residents in the district suffered power outages, RIA reported.

However, a Russian official said the two incidents of explosion and power outages were not related.

The power blackout was caused by technical failure and not related to any sounds of an explosion, the Russian emergency situations ministry had claimed on Thursday.

It also rejected the noise heard by residents to be of explosions and speculated it was caused by an aircraft’s transition to “supersonic speed”.

The ministry said work to restore power supply to the Zarechensky “will be completed in the near future”.