Ukraine tells Russia to expect 'more drones and more collapse' after skyscraper in Moscow is attacked for the second time in two days in clear sign of 'cracks in Putin's regime'
Ukraine has told Russia to expect 'more unidentified drones, more collapse [and] more civil conflicts' after a skyscraper in Moscow was attacked for the second time in two days.
The strike this morning impacted an office block known as the IQ quarter in Moscow City - a commercial and business district in the capital - which houses the ministry of economic development, the digital ministry and the ministry of industry and trade.
Kyiv has not confirmed if it was behind the attack, but Zelensky on Sunday described it as the 'natural process' of war 'returning to Russia'.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said that citizens in Russia's capital are 'rapidly getting used to a fully-fledged war' as attacks on Russian soil mount.
He added: 'More unidentified drones, more collapse, more civil conflicts, more war.'
It comes as Nina Khrushcheva, the great-granddaughter of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and a professor of international affairs at The New School in New York, told the BBC that the strikes on Moscow expose 'the cracks' in Vladimir Putin's regime.
'The despair is getting more prevalent, and I think it's going to be very hard, much harder now to pretend, at least in Moscow that the war is too far away,' she concluded.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from this morning's attack, which came just one day after Russia launched a pair of missiles on Ukrainian president Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rih, killing six people including a ten-year-old girl.
A view of a damage on a skyscraper attacked by a drone for the second time in two days in Moscow, Russia on August 1, 2023
Investigators examine an area next to a damaged building in the 'Moscow City' business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023
A security officer stands guard near a damaged office building in the Moscow City following a reported Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, August 1, 2023
Adviser to the President of Ukraine Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, speaks during an interview with AFP in Kyiv, on July 19, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine
A map depicts the targets of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian soil or Russian occupied territory. The attacks mostly focus on Moscow, the Russian occupied Crimean peninsula, or the Western Russian region of Belgorod
Ukrainian drone hits the Moscow International Business Centre in Moscow City commercial district on Sunday night
Investigators examine a damaged skyscraper in the 'Moscow City' business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early on Sunday
Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed the most recent attack on his city via the Telegram messaging app.
'One flew into the same tower in (Moscow) City as last time. The facade on the 21st floor was damaged,' and a number of windows were smashed, the mayor said.
Images from the scene showed how the office block's glass fronting had been shattered and tumbled hundreds of feet to the pavement below.
Shortly after the drone attack, Moscow's Vnukovo international airport was briefly closed as a precaution, TASS state news agency reported.
Russia also claimed today to have downed a separate wave of Ukrainian drones targeting vessels in the Black Sea near Crimea - the peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
'Two Ukrainian UAVs were destroyed by air defence systems over the territory of the Odintsovo and Narofominsk districts of Moscow region,' the Russian defence ministry said.
'Another drone was suppressed by electronic warfare and, having lost control, crashed on the territory of Moscow City,' the capital's main commercial district, the ministry said.
Tuesday's clashes follow a strike by three drones on Sunday, prompting Russian defences to shoot two down over the commercial district.
Russian military commanders in response launched twin missile strikes on Kryvyi Rih, demolishing an apartment block and educational establishment.
Six people, including a young girl, were killed and dozens injured as a result.
Moscow and its environs, lying about 500 kilometres (310 miles) from the Ukrainian border, had rarely been targeted during the conflict until several drone attacks this year.
Yet despite its attempts to strike back at key Russian targets, Ukraine has been forced to abort several of its planned drone strikes after Elon Musk refused to grant access to the Starlink satellite network for offensive military manoeuvres, a report claimed.
Kyiv had recently planned to remote-pilot a drone to deliver an explosive strike on a Russian navy ship at a Black Sea base in Crimea.
But the SpaceX CEO, 52, denied the Ukrainian military the use of his Starlink network - whose services he offered to Kyiv earlier in the war - forcing army chiefs to stand down the attack, according to a report by the New York Times.
In the wake of the aborted strike, Ukraine army chief Valery Zaluzhnyi reportedly sought contact with U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, alleging that Musk had the ability to dictate his military's capabilities to attack key Russian targets.
Zaluzhnyi said it was 'concerning' that Musk had scuppered several planned attacks. Musk has yet to comment on the claims.
But the billionaire, who has offered his network of satellites to support Ukraine's wartime communications in the months following Russia's February 2022 invasion, has maintained from the outset that his technology is meant 'for peaceful use only'.
Police officers stand in front of a damaged building in the Moscow-City business center following a drone attack in Moscow, Russia, 30 July 2023
SpaceX CEO Musk, 52, has reportedly denied the Ukrainian military the use of his Starlink network on several occasions, scuppering planned attacks on Russian targets, according to a report by the New York Times
A handout photo made available by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service shows Valeriy Zaluzhnyi (C), Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, attending an event on the occasion of the Day of Ukrainian Statehood held on Mykhailivska Square in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, 28 July 2023
Musk, whose offered his network of satellites to support Ukraine's wartime communications for free in 2022, has maintained from the outset that his technology is meant 'for peaceful use only'
A variety of Ukrainian-made drones have been used in aerial strikes on Russian soil, in addition to unmanned maritime vessels that can conduct attacks on seaborne craft.
The Bober (lit. 'beaver') is a new long-range suicide drone, which was deployed for the first time earlier this year.
With a range of up to 621 miles, the drone significantly improves Ukraine's reach as it musters a daring counteroffensive into occupied lands.
This new tech lines up alongside Kyiv's trusted UJ-22 airborne drone which can cruise at an altitude of 20,000ft with a range of up to 500 miles.
Some army units have even had success deploying anti-tank grenades using simple, cheap consumer drones.
Ukraine's armed forces have also benefitted from Britain and France sending long range Storm Shadow missiles, capable of hitting targets 350 miles away.
Defence analyst Dr James Bosbotinis said the Storm Shadow's range allows it to hit 'high-value hardened targets' that 'the adversary does not want to have attacked' such as bunkers, as reported by Forces.net.
Ukraine also has its HIMARS rocket systems for defence, but these have a range of only 50 miles.
Source: Daily Mail
