Vladimir Putin has been left humiliated after Ukrainian drones penetrated Russian air defences for the fourth successive day.
Moscow and the surrounding regions were under siege as Ukrainian forces unleashed more than 100 aircraft,targeting multiple buildings in the early hours of this morning.
Footage circulating on Russian pro-war Telegram channels shows several explosions leaving homes shaking and windows shattered.
Chaos also engulfed four of the capital’s airports – Sheremetyevo,Vnukovo,Domodedovo and Zhukovskiy – with as many as 134 flights having to be redirected.
By 10am local time,only two remained closed to air traffic – Vnukovo in the Moscow region and Grabtsevo in the Kaluga region.
‘The restrictions are necessary for ensuring the safety of civil aircraft flights,’ announced Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency.
Frustrated passengers – including tourists on summer vacations – were hit by delays,diverted flights and numerous cancellations in an apparent new tactic by Ukraine to paralyse air travel in Moscow.
Russia reported 93 Ukrainian drones being downed overnight,including 19 over the approaches to the capital.
Sheremetyevo was among the four airports affected by the strikes (Picture: aeast2west news)
Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed that Russian air defences shot down at least 16 drones heading toward the city.
In Kaluga region,residents also reported hearing loud drone flyovers and claimed that air defense systems were activated.
As is typical,Russian authorities have not released any official information on the targets or extent of the damage.
Ukraine’s attacks come as Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told state television that Putin is ready to move toward a peace settlement,but that his main objective is to achieve his goals in the war.
Peskov said that the world was now accustomed to Donald Trump’s sometimes ‘harsh’ rhetoric but pointed out that the US president had also underscored in comments on Russia that he would continue to search for a peace deal.
‘President Putin has repeatedly spoken of his desire to bring the Ukrainian settlement to a peaceful conclusion as soon as possible,Peskov said.
‘This is a long process,it requires effort,and it is not easy.’
He added: ‘The main thing for us is to achieve our goals. Our goals are clear.’
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