3 Ukrainian drones downed over Moscow

MOSCOW — Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow early on Sunday, injuring one, damaging buildings and briefly suspending flights at an international airport, TASS news agency said, citing officials.

Russia's Defense Ministry said two drones had crashed in the Moskva-Citi district after being brought down using radio-electronic equipment. Air defenses shot down another one in the air over the Odintsovo area in the Moscow region, it said.

"An attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime using unmanned aerial vehicles against targets in the city of Moscow was foiled," the ministry said in a statement.

One person was injured as a result of a blast in a building, TASS said, citing emergency services. It reported that the capital's Vnukovo airport was "closed for departures and arrivals, flights are redirected to other airports". Within less than an hour, operations appeared to have returned to normal.

Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said earlier the facades of two office buildings had been slightly damaged but that there were no casualties.

The Ukrainian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was the fourth such attempt at a strike on the capital region this month and the third in a week, as Russia's special military operation in Ukraine drags into its 18th month.

Moscow also said on Sunday its forces had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to attack Crimea with 25 drones overnight.

The latest attack came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that an African initiative could be a basis for peace in Ukraine but that Ukrainian attacks made it hard to realize.

He was speaking at a news conference after meeting African leaders in St. Petersburg on Friday.

"There are provisions of this peace initiative that are being implemented," he said. "But there are things that are difficult or impossible to implement."

Putin said that one of the points in the initiative was a cease-fire. "But the Ukrainian army is on the offensive ... We cannot cease fire when we are under attack."

On Sunday, Russia marked its Navy Day by staging a parade of ships and submarines on the Neva River in St. Petersburg.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Saudi Arabia is set to host talks in August about Ukraine, inviting Western states, Ukraine and some developing countries, including India and Brazil.

The meeting would bring senior officials from up to 30 countries, including Indonesia, Egypt, Mexico, Chile and Zambia, to Jeddah on Aug 5 and 6, the report said.

But Riyadh and Kyiv did not immediately acknowledge the planned talks.

Agencies Via Xinhua