Military vehicles deployed near Kremlin as Moscow mayor reports attempted Ukrainian drone attacks

Military posts reinforced with armoured vehicles have appeared in the centre of Moscow as the city attempts to repel Ukrainian drone attacks, the VCHK-OGPU Telegram channel, which has links to the Russian security forces, reported on Thursday.

According to the channel, military vehicles with electronic warfare equipment have been seen on the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge across the Moskva River and near the Kremlin. Mobile phone service in the area has also been cut, it said.

Sources told Novaya Gazeta Europe that they had seen the same military vehicles on the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, also close to the Kremlin, on Wednesday. The vehicles are presumably being used to repel drone attacks.

There has been an upsurge in Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow and the Moscow region over the past 48 hours, with Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin saying that air defence systems have repeatedly repelled attacks in recent days.

Problems with mobile phone connections were also reported throughout Wednesday in Moscow and the Moscow region. There were also communications problems in the Vladimir, Tula, Voronezh and Lipetsk regions, all of which were also attacked by drones. The authorities in the Oryol region of western Russia also announced restrictions to mobile phone coverage there on Thursday.

Moscow and its surroundings faced disruptions to mobile internet ahead of the Victory Day parade earlier this month as the authorities attempted to thwart drone attacks by temporarily disabling service.