The mayor of Moscow, Sergey Sabianin, has said that he wants to expand and strengthen the air defense of the capital of Russia, as Ukrainian attacks by remote-controlled kamikaze drones have multiplied recently.

“This year we have done a lot to protect Moscow from drones and attempted terrorist acts,” Mr Sabianin told representatives of municipal services and companies yesterday, according to Russian news agency Interfax.

New air defense systems are being installed in recent weeks, even on a daily basis, he added.

Observers remain skeptical of claims by Russian authorities about Ukrainian UAVs they say have been spotted and shot down.

Ukrainian drone raids on Russian territory, which have multiplied in recent months and are now practically daily, target mainly Moscow, 500 kilometers from the border of the two countries, the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, and above all military airfields, against the background of the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army that began in early June.

At the end of July, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his satisfaction because the war is now “reaching the territory of Russia”.