Yahoo News What is happening with Ukraine war as Moscow hit by powerful explosion
Russia has seen an uptick in drone attacks from Ukrainian forces in recent months
Moscow has been hit by a powerful explosion, in what the Russian defence ministry said was a Ukrainian drone attack.
The explosion took place in the early hours of Friday morning, hitting the city's Expo centre complex around three miles from the Kremlin, in an incident that caused no casualties.
“At about 4 am Moscow time, the Kyiv regime launched another terrorist attack using an unmanned aerial vehicle on objects located in Moscow and the Moscow region,” the Russian defence ministry said.
The ministry said the unmanned drone had been shot down by air defences, while local media reported that airports in the area were closed following the attack and flights cancelled.
A drone attack on Moscow last night. An expocenter was hit, Russian authorities reported.
Vnukovo airport was closed off for flights after that. pic.twitter.com/2Z5YAEO7NN— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 18, 2023
Increase in drone attacks
Russia has seen an uptick in drone attacks from Ukrainian forces in recent months, after a series of drone incidents in May that marked an escalation in attacks on tactical targets by Ukraine.
Just weeks ago, a building in Moscow's financial district was hit twice by a drone in the same number of days, causing damage to a skyscraper several hundred metres from the Expo centre that was struck this week.
At the time, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the war was "returning to the territory of Russia", also describing it as an "inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process", while Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova compared the tactics used to those in the terror attack on America's Twin Towers on 9/11.
"Let's take a look at another example: the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers. It caused an enormous number of casualties but the methods were the same," she said in an interview with Soloviev Live TV channel.
No casualties were reported during the drone attacks, however there was some building damage caused.
Ongoing concerns over Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
Fears have been raised over a potential fallout at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant since Russia stormed the facility last March, taking hostages.
The situation on the ground has since fluctuated, with Russia using it as a facility to store weapons and ammunition – the idea being that Ukraine wouldn't dare to attack it and risk a nuclear disaster.
In October, Putin ordered his government to officially take over the plant, having officially declared the annexation of the Zaporizhzhia region, but while Russia pressured some workers to sign contracts with Russian state energy company Rosatom, the power plant is still run by Energoatom, according to the Arms Control Association.
More recently, in June, Russia and Ukraine both suggested the other side was planning an attack on the plant and sparking concerns about a potential fallout from the largest nuclear power station in Europe.
That followed the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine last month, unleashing a torrent of flooding. Kyiv described the bursting of the dam as an "environmental bomb of mass destruction" and laid the blame squarely at Russia's door. Moscow, in turn, blamed Ukraine.
Reports of Ukrainian children being kidnapped for 'patriotic training' by Russia
At least 400 Ukrainian children have been taken for patriotic training by Russia in the past few weeks, according to reports from Ukraine’s Centre for National Resistance - in what the group described as a “policy of erasing the identity of an entire generation of Ukrainians”.
It is believed to be the first time Ukrainian children have been taken to the so-called recreation camps since an international arrest warrant was issued for Putin and his ombudswoman Maria Lvova-Belova at the beginning of the year in alleged connection with the kidnapping of Ukrainian children by Russian forces.
However, Russian officials have denied the clams - with Lvova-Belova stating that the recreation camps had been attempting to reunite displaced children with their families.
