Russia has accused Ukraine of “terrorism” after a drone damaged buildings in Moscow, including infrastructure near the Defense Ministry’s headquarters on Monday. The drone attack comes just one day after Ukraine vowed to respond to Russian attacks on Odesa.
There were reportedly no injuries in the attack, but it did strike close to where the Russian military holds briefings. The recent attack suggests that Ukraine's drones can penetrate deep within the Russian mainland.
Reuters reported that roads around the attack were closed, and the windows of the top floors of a building that were struck were blown out. “I was asleep and was woken up by a blast, everything started shaking,” Polina said, a young woman who lives near the building.
However, the Kremlin claimed that the drones had been “neutralised” and expressed that it would continue to carry out the objectives noted when the operation in Ukraine began. Ukraine has referred to the conflict with Russia as a war of conquest.
While the drone attack on Moscow didn’t cause any serious damage, it represents a high-profile attack that has signaled Ukraine is willing to do more than merely defend its borders.
There were a series of 17 drones that were launched into Crimea overnight, which Russia took control over in 2014. But the Russian Defense Ministry stated that it had used anti-drone equipment to successfully take down the onslaught.
However, the Russia-appointed head of Crimea stated that an ammunition warehouse had been struck, and that a residential building was damaged, per the report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had said that there would be “a retaliation to Russian terrorists for Odesa,” a reference to days of Russian missile attacks against the area. But Russia claimed that the strikes on Odesa were in response to a Ukrainian attack last week on the Crimean Bridge that killed the parents of a 14-year-old girl.
