Powerful explosion rocks central Moscow as Ukrainian drone downed near Kremlin

18 August 2023, 08:43

A powerful explosion rocked central Moscow today after a suspected kamikaze drone strike was launched on the city’s business district.

The Kremlin said a UAV drone was blown up by air defences.

Fragments of the downed drone hit the Moscow Expo Centre on  Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment, at the edge of the city's skyscraper zone which has been previously targeted by Ukraine.

Video footage shows a large explosion over the city and further images show significant damage to the expo centre. Major airports were temporarily closed.

Moscow described the latest strike as ‘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.”