Jamie Whitehead
Live reporter

It's been a day of uncertainty in Moscow. We don’t know who was responsible for the drone attack on the Russian capital but we do know it’s caused confusion - and in some cases fear for those living there.

Although the damage was minimal, it hasn't stopped Russia taking a hard line, with President Putin claiming the attacks targeted civilians and the foreign ministry saying it has the right to “take the harshest possible measures” in response.

Kyiv hasn’t said much, but an adviser to Ukraine's President Zelensky did comment earlier that it had “nothing directly to do with this”.

Meanwhile authorities in Ukraine have reported that four people have now been killed after Russian drone attacks on its territory in the last 24 hours.

We're pausing our live coverage on this story now but may restart it again in the morning - you can read more here.

The page was written by Thomas Mackintosh, Jennifer McKiernan, Alexandra Fouché, Gabriela Pomeroy, Malu Cursino and Sam Hancock. It was edited by Emily McGarvey, myself and Aoife Walsh.

Thank you for joining us.

Image source, PA Media

Ukraine has the right to defend itself beyond its borders, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.

Speaking in Estonia, where he attended talks in the run-up to July's Nato summit, Cleverly said he would not speculate about the drone attacks in Moscow.

But he said there was international recognition that a nation in Ukraine's position could have military targets beyond its own border as part of its self-defence.

"Ukraine does have the legitimate right to defend itself," he said.

"It has the legitimate right to do so within its own borders, of course, but it does also have the right to project force beyond its borders to undermine Russia’s ability to project force into Ukraine itself."

Residents in Moscow have been talking to Reuters news agency about this morning's attack and how they feel about it.

Image source, Reuters

Olga - who lives in the area where the explosions took place - says it was not a surprise that the capital had been targeted:

Image source, Reuters

Natalya accuses Kyiv of being behind the attack, but says there needs to be an investigation into who has actually carried it out on their behalf:

She's referring to speculation over whether the drones were launched from inside or outside Russia and by whom, as outlined by our diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams here.

Image source, EPA

There's been an update to the death toll following Russia's latest drone strikes on Ukraine, with officials now saying at least four people were killed.

One person died after debris hit a residential building in Kyiv, but the three others were killed at other sites around the country.

Some 34 others were injured, including two children, Reuters reports.

A little earlier, Ukrainian officials said falling debris had set buildings in Kyiv on fire and Ukraine's air defences were able to intercept more than 20 drones.

Moscow attack designed to sow uncertainty and fearpublished at 16:49 British Summer Time 30 May 2023

16:49 BST 30 May 2023

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

The scale of what happened in Moscow overnight was very small by comparison to what’s happened in Ukraine, but the psychological impact is clearly designed to sow a level of uncertainty and fear.

We don't yet know where this attack came from. There is an assumption that Ukraine was behind it in some way or another.

An expert I have been talking to believes that while it is perfectly possible that the drones could have been fired from inside Ukraine, some 500km or so from the Russian capital, he thought it more likely that they were fired from somewhere much closer to Moscow.

He thinks the devices didn't seem to be equipped with very much in the way of explosive munition, and he thinks the attacks were possibly carried out by operatives inside Russia.

Possibly with Ukrainian direction, but not with the intention of doing much damage.

We've just heard reaction from the White House to the drone strikes in Moscow.

"We do not support attacks inside of Russia," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"We saw the news and are still gathering information about what happened."

The spokesman said the US is still focused on helping Ukraine retake its sovereign territory.

Russia has blamed Ukraine for drone attacks carried out on Moscow this morning, with Russian President Vladimir Putin accusing Kyiv of trying to scare his people.

Here's the latest top lines:

• Right to respond: In a statement, Russia's foreign ministry said Moscow reserved the right to take the "harshest possible measures" in response to the attacks. It also criticised the West, saying assurances by Nato that Kyiv wouldn't attack Russia were "hypocritical"
• Not for us to comment: The UK said none of its equipment was used in the strikes, with PM Rishi Sunak's spokesman saying No 10 couldn't speculate further on the "origin of the attacks"
• Nothing to do with us: Ukraine has denied responsibility while dealing with the fallout of Russia's latest strikes on its capital Kyiv, which killed one person and injured more than 30 others - including two children
• Anger from the EU: European Commission foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano condemned the action by Russia, saying the attacks showed "yet again that Russia continues to indiscriminately terrorise Ukraine's civilian population in a heinous and barbaric way"

Image source, Reuters

More now from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Speaking on Russian state television, Putin claimed the attack on Moscow was a "response" to an air strike against Ukraine's military intelligence agency.

A Ukrainian "headquarters of military intelligence was struck two or three days ago," Putin said.

"In response, the Kyiv regime chose a different path to frighten Russians," he added, referring to the attack on Moscow earlier.

Earlier, European Commission foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano condemned the latest Russian attacks on Ukraine, in which at least one person was reported killed.

"These attacks show yet again that Russia continues to indiscriminately terrorise Ukraine's civilian population in a heinous and barbaric way," he said at a news briefing in Brussels.

"And also these attacks are a clear response by Putin to all those who strive for a peace process. It shows that Putin is not serious about stopping his war and he wants to continue his escalation against the Ukrainian people."

Ukraine says four people have been killed in the past day from Russian drone strikes.

Officials said air defence systems destroyed many of the drones, but one person was killed when debris hit a residential building in Kyiv overnight - 34 people were injured, including two children.

Image source, EPA

Russia's foreign ministry has said it reserves the right to take the "harshest possible measures" in response to a drone attack on its capital Moscow.

The Kremlin is blaming Ukraine for the attack, but officials in Kyiv have denied responsibility.

In a statement seen by the Reuters news agency, the ministry said it "reserves the right to take the harshest possible measures in response to the terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime".

It also criticised the West, saying assurances by Nato officials that Kyiv would not launch "strikes deep into Russian territory" have proven "to be completely hypocritical".

The attack on Moscow came shortly after Russia targeted Kyiv for the third night running, with Ukrainian officials saying more than 20 drones had been destroyed.

Some comments to bring you now from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who says the drone attack on Moscow was aimed at "civilian targets".

Putin said Russia's air defences worked well but would be boosted in the capital.

"Moscow's air defence system worked normally, satisfactorily, although there is some work to do," Putin said on Russian television.

He also accused Ukraine of trying to "frighten" Russia.

Putin said it was not Russia who started the war - even though it was his forces which invaded Ukraine last February.

Thomas Mackintosh
Live reporter

We are still waiting for more details to emerge about the drone attack in Moscow, which Russia has blamed on Ukraine. Kyiv denies being behind the attack, which took place early on Tuesday morning.

Russian security expert Natia Seskuria, from the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said Ukraine will not want to admit carrying out the attack if Western weapons are involved. Kyiv has promised the West it would not use Western weapons on Russian soil.

She said: "We don't have the full picture at the moment. But at the same time we know Ukraine has pledged to the West it will not use their weapons on Russian territory.

"So long as the West remains united, Ukraine will remain committed to this."

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has spoken in the last few minutes, though not about the drone attack in Moscow.

Instead, during a trip to East Africa, Lavrov accused Western leaders of "directly supporting genocide" by backing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's peace plan, the Reuters news agency reported.

It seems Lavrov is referring to the 10-point peace plan Zelensky published at the end of last year. It called for - among other things - the restoration of Ukraine’s state borders with Russia and the release of all war prisoners and children deported to Russia since the war began.

Addressing a press conference, Lavrov said the plan hoped to "destroy everything Russian" in east Ukraine and Crimea. He offered no evidence to support his claims.

Russia has long accused the West of ignoring what it says is Ukraine's persecution of Russian language speakers in the eastern Donbas region and elsewhere.

Thomas Mackintosh
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

I have been speaking with Natia Seskuria who is an expert in Russian security at the London-based Royal United Services Institute. She feels there is a real sense of a change in dynamic in the conflict.

In her view, the attacks in Moscow could cause more political damage than material damage as Russians who are supportive and sympathetic to the war effort will raise serious concerns about the country’s security.

"It raises a lot of insecurities despite the propaganda which we know has been working 24/7 to justify this Russian war effort," she tells me.

"These attacks are impossible to be hidden. We know that after the mobilisations, Russians have not been as enthusiastic as Putin wanted them to be.”

Video footage shared on social media appears to show a drone flying over Il'inskii, south east of Moscow.

Downing Street says it's confident no British-supplied equipment was used in the drone attack on Moscow.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's official spokesman said No 10 "can’t speculate on the origin of the attacks".

"Obviously what we have seen are significant attacks on Kyiv in recent days, including on civilians," he said.

Russia's capital Moscow was hit by multiple drones in the early hours of this morning, injuring at least two people and damaging several buildings.

Here's the latest developments:

• Ukrainian authorities denied responsibility after being accused of attacking the capital by the Kremlin

• Russia claims the eight drones used in the attack were taken out by air defence or signal jamming systems
• The Kremlin claims the attack was a response to it own effective attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks

• The Moscow attack came after Kyiv was hit overnight by Russia, with air defence systems taking down more than 20 drones
• One person has been confirmed killed, in what was the 17th attack on the Ukrainian capital since the start of the month
• Earlier this week, Ukraine's top intelligence officer, Kyrolo Budanov, said there would be a swift response to the recent surge in Russian strikes

Stay with us for more.

What do we know about the type of drones used?published at 12:52 British Summer Time 30 May 2023

12:52 BST 30 May 2023

Image source, .

There has been considerable speculation about the type of drones used in the attacks on Moscow.

There were eight drone strikes in the region, according to Russian Ministry of Defence claims.

However, Russian media report between 19 and 32 attacks. We cannot be certain of the exact number because some could have been counted twice.

However, BBC Verify has been working to identify the drones used.

There was initial online speculation that the Ukrainian-manufactured UJ-22 drone had been used.

However, after checking the footage, we know the UJ-22 was not used. These drones have a different wing, wheel position and fuselage design.

Instead, what we’ve seen in several videos is a drone with a short set of wings at the front, and larger ones to the rear. The unconventional design has prompted some to wrongly conclude that the aircraft was flying backwards or that the footage was reversed.

BBC Verify is currently speaking to different experts to try to identify this particular drone.

Elsewhere, a commercial plane flying over Moscow - a Cessna 172 - has been wrongly identified as a drone on the Telegram social messaging platform, popular in Russia.

This is an apartment building in Moscow which was damaged by the drones strikes in the city.

The drones which hit Moscow did not set off an air raid alert because they were flying at too low an altitude, a general has said.

Lt General Viktor Sobolev has called for systems to be modernised to prevent it from happening again.

Sobolev - who is a member of the Russian parliament's defence committee - also said he was dealing with the issue and that the government should create new monitoring systems to detect low-altitude attacks