According to Russia, the intensification of attacks on the capital region reflects the failures of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, while the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, indicated over the weekend that “the war is gradually returning to Russian territory” but it stopped short of claiming responsibility for the incidents.
Repeated drone strikes underscore Moscow’s vulnerability as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its 18th month.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said early Tuesday that it shot down two Ukrainian drones outside Moscow and seized control of another that crashed into a skyscraper in Moscow’s financial district, causing damage to the building facade.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the crash occurred in the same building that was damaged in a similar attack early Sunday morning. In the IQ-Quarter, located about 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles) from the Kremlin, are the offices of various government agencies, including, supposedly, the headquarters of the Ministry of Economic Development. Sobyanin noted that Tuesday’s incident caused no injuries.
Why the same building was hit twice in a row was not immediately clear. In both incidents, the Russian military said the drones that hit the skyscraper were intercepted before impact.
Mykhailo Podolyak, Zelenskyy’s adviser, tweeted that Moscow “is quickly getting used to an all-out war which, in turn, will soon move into the territory of the ‘war authors’ to collect all their debts” but neither confirmed nor denied the claim. Kiev’s involvement in the incident.
The Russian military also said that kyiv’s forces tried to attack two of its warships in the Black Sea overnight with maritime drones. The target of three of them were patrolmen Sergei Kotovy and Vasily Bykov, 340 km (211 miles) southwest of the Crimean city of Sevastopol, according to the Defense Ministry report. All three drones were destroyed, he added.
The attacks on Moscow and Crimea, which the Kremlin illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, follow a deadly Russian missile attack on Krivoy Rog, Zelenskyy’s hometown in the center of the country. Monday’s attack destroyed part of a residential building, killing at least six people and injuring dozens of others.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
