‘War is returning to the territory of Russia,’ Ukrainian president says after Moscow buildings damaged in latest drone attack
Three Ukrainian drones that were shot down over Moscow damaged a high-rise building containing government offices and briefly shut an international airport, according to reports. Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said nobody was hurt and there was only minor damage to the facade of two office buildings in the Moscow City business district early on Sunday. Russia’s state news agency Tass reported a security guard had been injured. One of the damaged buildings – several kilometres from the Kremlin – was home to three Russian government ministries as well as residential apartments, according to Russian media, in the third such attack on the capital region in a week.
“War is returning to the territory of Russia,” Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned after the drones were downed over Moscow. The Ukrainian president said that was “an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process” and that Russia’s symbolic centres and military bases would be targeted.
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow would be “forced” to use a nuclear weapon if Kyiv’s counteroffensive was a success and its forces “tore off a part of our land”. Medvedev, the deputy chair of Russia’s security council, said that in that situation “there would simply be no other option”.
Saudi Arabia will host a Ukrainian-organised peace summit in early August seeking a way to start negotiations over the war, the Associated Press has reported, citing Saudi officials. One, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia was not invited to the talks in Jeddah. The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, later confirmed the talks would be held in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh has not acknowledged the summit nor responded to a request for comment.
Putin has said African and Chinese proposals could serve as a basis for finding peace, but that elements were “difficult or impossible” to implement. He was speaking at a press conference after meeting African leaders in St Petersburg.
Putin praised Russia’s navy in an address at the annual Navy Day parade. The Russian president announced 30 new ships this year and said the country was “building up the power” of its navy.
Russian forces thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to attack Russia-annexed Crimea with 25 drones, Moscow said on Sunday.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has told government officials he expects Russia to resume its attacks on Ukraine’s energy system when the weather gets colder in the autumn. “We should be ready for this in any case,” the Ukrainian president said.
Satellite imagery captured on 19 July has identified about 300 tents and 200 vehicles in Tsel, Belarus, where Wagner troops have likely established a military camp there, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. It said it was unclear what happened to the heavy equipment Wagner used in Ukraine, suggesting it was possible it was forced to return these to the Russian military.
Pope Francis has called on Russia to revive the Black Sea grain deal, through which Moscow had allowed Ukraine to export grain from its seaports despite the war.
