TALLINN, Estonia: Russian authorities early on Tuesday (Aug 1) accused Kyiv of yet another attack on Moscow and its surroundings with drones, one of which hit a building in the capital that was damaged by a drone just days ago in a similar attack early on Sunday.
Russian officials have claimed that the intensified attacks on the capital region reflect failures in Ukraine’s counteroffensive, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said over the weekend that “the war is gradually coming back to Russian territory,” but stopped short of taking responsibility of the attacks.
The repeated drone strikes underscore Moscow’s vulnerability as Russia’s war in Ukraine drags into its 18th month.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in the early hours of Tuesday that it shot down two Ukrainian drones outside Moscow and jammed another, sending it crashing into a skyscraper in the Moscow City business district and damaging the building’s facade.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the drone crashed into the same building that was damaged in a similar attack early on Sunday.
IQ-Quarter, located 7.2km from the Kremlin, contains the offices of several government agencies, including, reportedly, the headquarters of Russia’s Ministry for Economic Development. Sobyanin said the Tuesday attack didn’t result in any casualties.
It wasn’t clear why the same building was hit twice in a row. In both incidents, the Russian military said the drones that hit the skyscraper were jammed before crashing.
