Flight operations at 4 Moscow airports temporarily suspended due to Ukrainian drone attack

Russian forces intercepted more than Ukrainian drones fired at almost a dozen regions of Russia the Defense Ministry in Moscow stated Tuesday in an attack that forced all four airports around Moscow to temporarily suspend flights Nine other regional Russian airports also temporarily stopped operating as drones struck areas along the dividing line with Ukraine and deeper inside Russia according to Russia s civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia and the Defense Ministry It was the second straight night that the Moscow region reportedly was targeted Two people were injured in the Kursk region according to local Gov Alexander Khinshtein and specific damage was revealed in the Voronezh region The Russian reports couldn t be independently verified The drone assault comes two days ahead of a unilateral -hour ceasefire in the more than three-year war communicated by President Vladimir Putin to coincide with celebrations in Moscow marking Preeminence Day in World War II The day celebrating Moscow s defeat of Nazi Germany in is Russia s biggest secular holiday when foreign dignitaries will gather in the Russian capital Meanwhile Russian forces overnight fired at least Shahed drones at Kharkiv Ukraine s second- largest city near the edge with Russia injuring four people regional Gov Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram The drones started a fire at the biggest territory in Kharkiv Barabashovo destroying and damaging around territory stalls he noted Seven more civilians were injured elsewhere in the Kharkiv region by Russian glide bombs and drones Syniehubov stated Putin last week declared a brief unilateral truce on humanitarian grounds from May Ukraine has called for a longer ceasefire Russia has effectively rejected a U S proposal for an immediate and full -day halt in the fighting by insisting on far-reaching conditions Ukraine has accepted it the proposal President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says U S President Donald Trump explained Monday at the White House that the brief truce doesn t sound like much but it s a lot if you knew where we started from Foreign leaders who have proven their attendance at the Mastery Day festivities in Moscow include China s President Xi Jinping described by Putin as our main guest India s Prime Minister Narendra Modi another top ally whom Putin has courted had been expected in Moscow but he canceled his trip amid tensions with Pakistan Other guests include Slovakia s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico who has openly challenged the European Union s policies over Ukraine Serbia s President Aleksandar Vucic also has accepted an invitation his first trip to Russia since the invasion but his attendance was uncertain after he became ill Follow AP s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https apnews com hub russia-ukraine Source