Latest news with #MoscowRegion
Russia Today
2 days ago
- General
- Russia Today
Ukrainian drone strikes apartment block in Moscow (VIDEOS)
A Ukrainian drone struck an apartment block in southwestern Moscow early Thursday morning, as Kiev ramps up attacks on the Russian capital following the first direct talks between the two countries in three years. The UAV hit the Mirax Park residential complex on Vernadsky Avenue, damaging the building's facade and shattering windows. Many residents fled into the street after the blast. Mayor Sergey Sobyanin stated that there were no casualties or 'serious damage.' He added that three drones had been shot down over Moscow. Residents reported hearing loud explosions in several neighborhoods. Another kamikaze drone struck the roof of a residential complex in Odintsovo, a town just outside Moscow. On May 16, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Istanbul for the first time since 2022, agreeing to carry out a large prisoner exchange and for each to submit detailed ceasefire proposals. Kiev has since intensified its drone strikes deep inside Russia. On Wednesday, at least 12 UAVs were intercepted over the city, according to Russian officials. The drones damaged three buildings and an industrial facility.
Russia Today
4 days ago
- General
- Russia Today
Moscow targeted by major Ukrainian drone assault (VIDEOS)
Ukraine has launched another major drone raid on Moscow and suburban areas, with a total of 42 UAVs being shot down overnight across the entire region, local officials have said. The attack damaged buildings and prompted temporary flight suspensions, but no casualties have been reported. Air defenses intercepted drones across 12 municipalities in the early hours of Wednesday, according to Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov. Three residential houses were damaged in Troitskoye, a village in the Chekhov district south of Moscow, Vorobyov said. Emergency services were working at the scene and residents affected by the attack would receive assistance, he added. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin confirmed the drone raid on the Russian capital, which came in several waves starting at around 12:30am. The Russian Defense Ministry said air defense systems had shot down or intercepted a total of 296 fixed-wing drones across Russia between 9pm on Tuesday and 7am on Wednesday. Russia's aviation regulator said flight operations were temporarily restricted at Moscow's Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Zhukovsky and Sheremetyevo airports, as well as at regional airports in Vladimir, Ivanovo, Kostroma, and Yaroslavl, to ensure safety. Restrictions were lifted later in the morning. In Zelenograd, a district on the northwestern outskirts of Moscow, an explosion shattered the windows at Elma Technopark while a nearby car caught fire, according to pictures shared by the Shot Telegram channel. The outlet also posted a video appearing to show the midair destruction of a UAV. The drone raid was caught on camera in multiple locations, with clips often featuring drones flying at a low altitude and explosions. A video shared by Baza showed residents in Ramenskoye, outside Moscow, taking cover under trees during the attack. Ukraine has recently significantly intensified its drone raids on civilian infrastructure deep into Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry has said that the attacks are being supported by Kiev's sponsors in Europe and are aimed at disrupting the ongoing conflict settlement process. According to the ministry, more than 2,300 drones have been intercepted over the past week, mostly outside the frontline. Subsequently, Russia has responded with precision strikes targeting exclusively Ukrainian military facilities, including drone production sites, warehouses, airfields, radar stations, and ammunition depots.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Poem of the week: Selling Watermelons by Andrei Voznesensky, translated by Edwin Morgan
Selling Watermelons Moscow is milling with watermelons. Everything breathes a boundless freedom. And it blows with unbridled fierceness from the breathless melonvendors. Stalls. Din. Girls' headscarves. They laugh. Change bangs down. Knives — and a choice sample slice. — Take one, chief, for a long life! Who's for a melon? Freshly split! — And just as tasty and just as juicy are the capbands of policemen and the ranks of motor-scooters. The September air is fresh and keen and resonant as a watermelon. And just as joyfully on its own tack as the city-limit melon-multitudes, the earth swings in its great string-bag of meridians and latitudes! The Moscow-born poet Andrei Voznesensky (1933-2010), was one of the 'Thaw Poets', the experimental and politically argumentative young writers who emerged in the USSR during the de-Stalinisation era of Nikita Khrushchev. Their regular informal readings in Mayakovsky Square attracted enthusiastic audiences between the late 1950s and 1961, when they were temporarily banned. As a young teen, Voznesensky had sent some verses to Boris Pasternak and been thrilled by the warm response. Perhaps this was an important source of his literary self-confidence. But the boldness seems to have been tempered by a certain personal tact. His early collection, Mozaika, was withdrawn and the publisher, apparently, fired. In 1963, at a Kremlin meeting between writers and artists and the Soviet government, Khrushchev, whose liberalising instinct didn't extend to questioning socialist realism, rounded on him and demanded he leave the country. Somehow, Voznesensky evaded the worst outcome: he wrote what has been described as an 'ironic recantation' for Pravda, and continued to publish and recite his work. He went on to achieve a rock-star level of fame, giving sell-out readings in both the USSR and abroad. He was awarded the Soviet state prize in 1978. Selling Watermelons is the kind of poem that would please and amuse the home crowd. It's a gutsy celebration of the suddenly overwhelming seasonal glut of a very desirable product. There's no moaning about scarcity, although the string-bag mentioned in the last verse is a clue. It was stowed in every shopper's pocket, just in case a previously unavailable item had suddenly appeared. Now, in the glory of the 'melon-multitudes' the bag would be stretched as wide as possible to contain the delicious import – which had probably travelled from Kherson. Edwin Morgan's translation is alive to the breathless excitement, the counter-sensation of suddenly being able to breathe freely, and the deliciously demonstrative aspect of the whole event. Vendors with busy knives prepare sample slices: customers' knuckles tap the surface of the uncut fruit to check for that inimitable 'resonance' of ripeness. The exhilaration that fills the sharp September air has, of course, a political dimension but this is understated, subsumed in an expression of joy that unites the people and those in power over them. Commended as a Russian translator particularly for his rendering of Mayakovsky into Scots, Morgan (1920-2010), gets the muscles of the English language working with similar vigour in his treatment of Voznesensky. He was a faithful linguistic traveller, not a version-maker, but there are small, important innovations in Selling Watermelons. For instance, assuming the online version of the poem is correctly laid out, the original stanza structure is altered: Voznesensky has three two-lined stanzas, Morgan, only one. This greater compression may reflect Morgan's concern with emphasising the zingy alliterative contrasts that make all of Voznesensky's original lines so exciting. Morgan's lineation jostles the milder English sounds closer together for added impact. There are bold decisions concerning particular words, especially in the first stanza. In the opening line ('Moscow is milling with watermelons') the original verb, 'авалена' ('overloaded'), emphasises quantity rather than movement. Besides avoiding the passive case, Morgan's present participle, 'milling' introduces a verb that evokes weight and, above all, movement. Crowds are 'milling' as in the conventional metaphor, and watermelons are constantly changing hands: so, 'Moscow is milling with watermelons'. It's simple and right. 'Melonvendors' is another stroke of brilliance. It avoids the Voznesensky's gender-specific rhyme-word, 'продавщиц', ('saleswomen') and adds a kind of sound effect. Abundance for Voznesensky creates a mood of freedom, a sense of boundlessness, but his portrait of the city as an image of the prevailing politics is realistic. Perhaps the 'chief' invited to 'take one' is a party boss recognised by the vendor? Satisfyingly, briefly, power has passed to the latter. It's in the first lines of the fourth stanza that a more noticeable bit of political mischief appears: 'And just as tasty, and just as juicy are / the capbands of policemen'. It's clearly a joke, but it's still 'edgy': a military policeman in a good mood could laugh, but, on another day, treat it as an insult. The last quatrain opens out into an image in which the watermelon, ferried home in its plumped-out bag, becomes the world: 'the earth swings in its great string-bag / of meridians and latitudes'. It's as if the markings on the melon's skin had suggested a vision of the Earth, and all the joyful possibilities of 'latitude' and adventure it might hold. These were possibilities ultimately realised by Voznesensky. How grieved he would be that the young poets of present-day Russia, Artyom Kamardin and Yegor Shtovba, cannot share such exhilaration. Selling Watermelons is published in Edwin Morgan's Collected Translations. The Russian original, Торгуют арбузами, is printed here and memorably performed here.
Reuters
6 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Russia says it downs 96 Ukrainian drones, some Moscow airports halt flights
MOSCOW, May 26 (Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry said on Monday that air defence systems had downed 96 Ukrainian drones, including six over Moscow region. Moscow's Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports temporarily halted flights, Russia's aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukrainian drones shot down near Moscow as Russia attacks Kyiv, official claims
Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated. Russian air defense units intercepted en route to Moscow overnight on May 25, according to Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin. Sobyanin's claims came as Russia launched a large-scale aerial attack against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities for the second night in a row. Six drones were shot down as they flew towards Moscow, Sobyanin reported. Emergency workers were dispatched to the scene. No casualties or damage have been reported at the time of publication. The Kyiv Independent could not verify Sobyanin's claims. Ukraine rarely comments on reports of drone strikes on Russian soil. Amid the reported attack, restrictions were introduced at Moscow's Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports, as well as Russia's Kaluga airport, according to the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya). As Russia's war drags on and the Kremlin has openly said it opposes a ceasefire, Ukraine has stepped up its drone attacks on Russian soil. In the past week, Russia has claimed that mass Ukrainian drone strikes targeted Moscow and other regions several nights in a row. Ukraine regularly attacks Russian military infrustructure with drones. The recent surge in drone strikes aims to disrupt airport operations, overwhelm air defenses, and make the war visible to the Russian public. Read also: Ukraine brings home 307 POWs in 2nd phase of major prisoner swap with Russia We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
