𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Russian air defences destroyed a Ukrainian drone headed for Moscow late last night, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

The Moscow mayor made no mention of casualties or damage, but said specialists were examining the area where drone fragments hit the ground. Mr Sobyanin on Wednesday said three drones had been intercepted.

Russian news agencies quoted the federal aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, as saying operations had been suspended at two airports near the capital, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky.

“Preparations are underway, we are working very closely with the Germans on the Patriot transfer”, General Grynkewich told a conference in the German city of Wiesbaden.

“The guidance that I have been given has been to move out as quickly as possible.”

Russia’s defence ministry has said its troops have taken control of three villages in three different parts of the frontline running through Ukraine.

Official Ukrainian reports of activity along the 1,000km (600 mile) front disputed part of the Russian account, particularly concerning a key village in the southeast.

The Russian defence ministry report named the three captured settlements as Kamianske in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, Dehtiarne in northeastern Kharkiv region, and Popiv Yar in Donetsk region, the main theatre of Russian operations.

Russian forces are engaged in a slow advance westward, mainly through Donetsk region, and Moscow announces the capture of new villages almost every day.

Ukrainian military spokesperson Vladyslav Voloshyn told the liga.net media outlet that holding Kamianske, southeast of the region’s main town of Zaporizhzhia, was important to keep that city safe from attack.

But Kamianske had been all but flattened by long periods of fighting, he said. Ukrainian forces had moved out of it and successfully attacked Russian troops whenever small groups periodically ventured into it.

“The Russians cannot go into the village and hold it,” Mr Voloshyn was quoted as saying. “There is not a single dwelling left intact, not a single wall left standing, nothing to hold, nothing to enable you to take cover.”

There was no acknowledgement from Ukraine that Popiv Yar had changed hands – the village lies northeast of Pokrovsk, for months a focal point of Russian attacks in Donetsk region.

For at least a week, it has remained in the “grey zone” of uncertain control as reported by DeepState, a Ukrainian military blog based on open source accounts of the fighting. There was no news from Ukrainian officials of the situation at Dehtiarne.