Drone shot down by air defense near Moscow

MOSCOW, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russian air defense forces have shot down a drone that attempted to fly over Russia's capital early Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his social media channel.

The debris fell in the area of the Expocentre, causing partial damage to one of its pavilions, he said.

There were no casualties and the city's emergency services were working at the scene.

According to Russia's TASS news agency, a partial collapse of the outer wall occurred in one of the pavilions of the Expocentre, located on the Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment in Moscow. The collapsed area is about 30 square meters.

The nearby Vnukovo airport closed its airspace for planes, but reopened shortly after. According to the airport's information board, six departures and eight arrivals were delayed, of which five flights were rerouted to other airports.