UPDATE - Moscow claims to have foiled Ukrainian attack by shooting down multiple drones, missiles

CHANGES HEADLINE AND LEDE; ADDS STATEMENT ON ALLEGED UKRAINIAN MISSILE ATTACK BY UKRAINE; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Moscow claimed on Sunday that it thwarted multiple air strikes by Ukraine, during which it downed a total of 24 drones over three separate attacks.

An initial Russian Defense Ministry statement claimed that Ukraine tried to attack targets in the capital Moscow plus the Tula, Kaluga and Bryansk regions, during which the country’s air defense systems downed 11 aircraft-type drones.

Another statement claimed that air defense systems destroyed an additional nine drones over the same four regions.

The ministry claimed in a later statement that four more drones were downed over the regions of Bryansk, Smolensk, and Tula.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said in a statement on Telegram that there were no casualties in the capital.

Meanwhile, Russian state news agency TASS reported that operations in Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo – all in Moscow – resumed normally after restrictions were implemented earlier in the day.

Elsewhere, the Tula region’s account on Russian social network VK said that one person was injured due to debris from a drone that was downed.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have destroyed two Ukrainian S-200 anti-aircraft missiles over the Sea of Azov, which it claimed were "converted to hit ground targets against targets on the territory of the Russian Federation."

Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the claim, and independent verification of Russia’s claim is difficult due to the ongoing war, which began in February 2022.​​​​​​​