MOSCOW, May 22 — Air traffic around Moscow was disrupted on Thursday as the Russian capital came under attack, with the defence ministry saying 35 Ukrainian drones targeting the city had been downed overnight.

"Air defence systems destroyed and intercepted 105 Ukrainian drones,” of which 35 were heading towards Moscow, the ministry said in a statement.

Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said "emergency services specialists are working at the site of the fallen debris”, in a Telegram post.

The attack came a day after 27 drones were launched towards the city, according to the mayor, and after Russia deployed a record number of drones against Ukraine at the weekend, Kyiv said Sunday.

The two countries have deployed drones against one another on a near daily basis since Russia launched its military offensive on Ukraine more than three years ago, but Moscow has rarely been targeted.

On Thursday, flights were halted at multiple Moscow airports, Russia’s aviation authority Rosaviatsiya said.

Planes were temporarily grounded at the city’s main Sheremetyevo airport as well as at Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky, Rosaviatsiya said on Telegram.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly rebuffed calls by Kyiv and the West for an unconditional and immediate ceasefire.

Russia now controls around a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula which it annexed in 2014.

The fighting has killed tens of thousands, forced millions to flee their homes and destroyed cities and villages across the east and south of Ukraine. — AFP