Ukraine Strikes Moscow in Biggest Drone Attack to Date

A view of the site of the damaged multi-storey residential building following an alleged Ukrainian drone attack in Ramenskoye, outside Moscow, Moscow region, Russia, on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo)
A view of the site of the damaged multi-storey residential building following an alleged Ukrainian drone attack in Ramenskoye, outside Moscow, Moscow region, Russia, on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo)
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Ukraine Strikes Moscow in Biggest Drone Attack to Date

A view of the site of the damaged multi-storey residential building following an alleged Ukrainian drone attack in Ramenskoye, outside Moscow, Moscow region, Russia, on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo)
A view of the site of the damaged multi-storey residential building following an alleged Ukrainian drone attack in Ramenskoye, outside Moscow, Moscow region, Russia, on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo)

Ukraine struck the Moscow region on Tuesday in its biggest drone attack so far on the Russian capital, killing at least one woman, wrecking dozens of homes and forcing around 50 flights to be diverted from airports around Moscow.

Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power, said it destroyed at least 20 Ukrainian attack drones as they swarmed over the Moscow region, which has a population of more than 21 million, and 124 more over eight other regions.

At least one person was killed near Moscow, Russian authorities said. Three of Moscow's four airports were closed for more than six hours and almost 50 flights were diverted.

Kyiv said Russia, which sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, had attacked it overnight with 46 drones, of which 38 were destroyed.
The drone attacks on Russia damaged high-rise apartment buildings in the Ramenskoye district of the Moscow region, setting flats on fire, residents told Reuters.

A 46-year-old woman was killed and three people were wounded in Ramenskoye, Moscow regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said.

The Ramenskoye district, some 50 km (31 miles) southeast of the Kremlin, has a population of around quarter a million of people, according to official data.
More than 70 drones were also downed over Russia's Bryansk region and tens more over other regions, Russia's defense ministry said. There was no damage or casualties reported there.

As Russia advances in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv has taken the war to Russia with a cross-border attack in Russia's western Kursk region that began on Aug. 6 and by carrying out increasingly large drone attacks deep into Russian territory.

DRONE WAR

The war has largely been a grinding artillery and drone war along the 1,000 km (620 mile) heavily fortified front line in southern and eastern Ukraine involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

Moscow and Kyiv have both sought to buy and develop new drones, deploy them in innovative ways, and seek new ways to destroy them - from shotguns to advanced electronic jamming systems.

Both sides have turned cheap commercial drones into deadly weapons while ramping up their own production and assembly to attack targets including tanks, energy infrastructure such as refineries and airfields.



UN Names Former British Diplomat Tom Fletcher to Lead Aid Efforts

Fletcher replaces Martin Griffiths, who stepped down at the end of June for health reasons.
Fletcher replaces Martin Griffiths, who stepped down at the end of June for health reasons.
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UN Names Former British Diplomat Tom Fletcher to Lead Aid Efforts

Fletcher replaces Martin Griffiths, who stepped down at the end of June for health reasons.
Fletcher replaces Martin Griffiths, who stepped down at the end of June for health reasons.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday appointed former British diplomat Tom Fletcher as the new aid chief for the world body amid worsening humanitarian crises in the Gaza Strip, Sudan and elsewhere, largely driven by conflict.

Fletcher replaces Martin Griffiths, who stepped down at the end of June for health reasons.

Fletcher - who is currently the principal of Hertford College, Oxford - was the British ambassador to Lebanon from 2011-2015 and served as the foreign and development policy adviser to three British prime ministers between 2007-2011, the UN said in a statement.

He "has strong experience of leading and transforming organizations and bringing an understanding of diplomacy at the highest levels," the UN said.

UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said he did not know when Fletcher would take up the role.

The announcement comes as UN efforts to tackle humanitarian needs around the world are significantly underfunded.

The UN has appealed for $49 billion in 2024 to help 187.6 million of the people in need across 73 countries. But the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which Fletcher will lead, said on Wednesday that so far it has only received $16.21 billion.