Key events
Some images from around the scene of the reported drone strike in central Moscow:
Russia’s defence ministry confirmed there were no casualties in the drone attack in central Moscow.
It said on Telegram that it thwarted the attack from two unmanned aerial vehicles.
By means of electronic warfare, two Ukrainian UAVs were suppressed and crashed … there were no victims.
Russia’s FSB-linked Telegram channels have reported that residents of several districts in Moscow’s south-west and south reported the sounds of explosions, Reuters reports.
Komsomolsky Avenue is near Russia’s defence ministry buildings in Moscow’s central administrative district.
The debris of a drone has been found in central Moscow, Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency is reporting.
It quoted an emergencies official as saying early on Monday:
At 17, Komsomolsky Prospekt, the debris of a drone was discovered. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties.
The official said law enforcement agencies and emergency services were working at the scene.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome back to our continuing live coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine – this is Adam Fulton.
Drones hit two non-residential buildings in Moscow around 4am (0100 GMT) on Monday, Moscow mayor’s said.
“There was no serious damage or injuries,” Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram.
Russia’s defence ministry said air-defence forces thwarted the attack and that two drones were intercepted and destroyed.
In other key developments:
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Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, said Ukraine’s counteroffensive “has failed” as he hosted Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, his close ally, for talks in St Petersburg. “There is no counteroffensive,” Russian news agencies quoted Lukashenko as saying on Sunday, to which Putin replied: “It exists, but it has failed.” Ukraine began its counteroffensive last month but has so far made only small gains.
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Lukashenko claimed Minsk was “controlling” the situation with fighters from the Wagner mercenary group and restricting them to staying in the centre of the country. Belarus is hosting Wagner fighters on its territory after brokering a deal after Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin ended a short-lived uprising last month in exchange for safe passage to exile in Belarus.
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Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has said Kyiv and Warsaw will “always stand united” after Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko accused Poland of having territorial ambitions. “Putin’s attempts to drive a wedge between Kyiv and Warsaw are as futile as his failing invasion of Ukraine,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “Unlike Russia, Poland and Ukraine have learned from history and will always stand united against Russian imperialism and disrespect for international law.”
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Ukraine alleged Russia shelled a cultural centre in the Donetsk region with cluster munitions on Sunday morning. The defence ministry said the centre in Chasiv Yar housed the “humanitarian headquarters” and was used as an aid distribution point for civilians.
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A meeting of a new Nato-Ukraine Council, expected to address Black Sea security, has been scheduled for Wednesday, president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday. Nato spokesperson Oanu Lungescu said earlier that the previously announced meeting, requested by Zelenskiy in a phone conversation with Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg, would discuss the situation following Russia’s withdrawal from the year-old deal over Ukrainian grain exports.
