Russia has claimed that Ukraine launched drones which hit Moscow early on Monday, July 24, 2023.
“A Kyiv regime attempt to carry out a terrorist act using two drones on objects on the territory of the city of Moscow was stopped,” the Russian defence ministry announced.
According to Moscow Mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, there were no casualties when the drones struck two non-residential buildings in Moscow.
Russian media reported that one of the drones fell on the Komsomolsky highway near Moscow’s center.
It shattered shop windows and damaged the roof of a house just about 200 meters (just over 200 yards) away from the towering riverside Defense Ministry building. The ministry’s main headquarters has Pantsyr air defense systems placed on the roof.
Kremlin Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov noted, “the intensity of attempts to attack our regions with drones has grown.”
Without offering any details about whether Russia’s air defence systems have been enhanced because of the increased attacks, Peskov said, “So measures are being taken, a very intense daily 24-hour work is underway.”
When asked how Russia would respond to the drone attack on the Russian capital which it blamed on Ukraine, Peskov remarked that Russia will press on with what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine and achieve all of its aims.
Also, Russian authorities disclosed that another Ukrainian drone attack struck an ammunition depot in northern Crimea on Monday, July 24, 2023 and forced a halt in traffic on a major highway and a railway crossing the Black Sea peninsula that was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.
The Moscow-appointed Head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, stated that authorities also ordered the evacuation of several villages within a five-kilometer (three-mile) radius of the depot that was hit.
Railway traffic was restored several hours later.
It was reported that 11 of the 17 attacking drones were jammed and crashed into the Black Sea and another three were shot down.
In a statement on Telegram, the Russian ministry of defence noted that the country “reserves the right to take tough retaliatory measures.”
“We regard what happened as another use of terrorist methods by the military-political leadership of Ukraine,” the ministry said, emphasizing that “these attacks had no military meaning.”
“We strongly condemn this yet another crime of the Kyiv regime. We call on international organisations to give it a proper assessment,” ministry added.
The ministry also said that Ukraine’s actions were a result of “the West’s focus on further aggravating the situation” and added that the Investigative Committee of Russia has opened criminal cases on the drone attacks.
Russia Strikes Port Infrastructure On Danube River
Meanwhile, Russian forces struck port infrastructure on the Danube River in southern Ukraine with exploding drones early on Monday.
Ukrainian officials revealed that the attack left seven people injured and destroyed a grain hangar and storage for other cargo.
Ukraine’s military reported downing three of the attacking drones.
Moreover, Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former President, who is now the Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, averred that Moscow needs to broaden the range of targets it strikes in Ukraine.
“We need to choose unconventional targets for our strikes. Not just storage facilities, energy hubs and oil bases,” Medvedev stated on Telegram.
Klaus Iohannis, the President of Romania, condemned Russia’s attacks against the Ukrainian civilian infrastructure on Danube, which is near Romania.
“This recent escalation pose serious risks to the security in the Black Sea. It also affects further [Ukraine] grain transit and thus the global food security,” he noted in a tweet.
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