Russian air defence units have repelled a drone approaching Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said early on Friday.

"Air defence units of the Defence Ministry repelled an attack by a drone flying towards Moscow," Sobyanin wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "Emergency specialists are working at the site where fragments have fallen."

Russian news agencies later quoted a representative of Rosaviatsiya, the federal transport agency, as saying the capital's Vnukovo airport had been reopened for departing flights subject to further official approvals.

The agencies said two other airports had also been ordered to close but there was no immediate work on whether their operations had resumed. REUTERS

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