Ukrainian drone strikes have heightened anxiety across Moscow ahead of this year’s May 9 parade on Red Square, where President Vladimir Putin will be watching with other leaders.

Russian air defence forces downed 12 Ukrainian drones flying towards Moscow, the city's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said on Wednesday. Sobyanin, in a series of posts over four hours on the Telegram messaging app,

The volley came just days before a planned parade in the capital to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.