Russia reports Ukrainian drone hits government offices in Moscow

Emergency personnel work outside a damaged office block of the Moscow International Business Center (Moskva City) following a reported drone attack in Moscow on Aug. 1, 2023. [AFP]

Russian officials said Tuesday that a Ukrainian drone hit the 21st floor of a high-rise building in Moscow but that the country’s air defenses shot down two other drones on the outskirts of the Russian capital.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that the building hit was the same one struck during a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday.

There were no injuries reported from the Tuesday attack.

Ukraine does not usually acknowledge attacks inside Russia, but the attacks have become more frequent.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Moscow “is rapidly getting used to a full-fledged war.”

The glass-facade building that was hit houses the government’s ministries of digital development, economy and industrial development.

Russia’s defense ministry said Tuesday its forces thwarted an attack by three Ukrainian sea drones that targeted a pair of Russian patrol vessels in the Black Sea.

Russia said the attack took place about 340 kilometers southwest of Sevastopol.

Russian attacks

Authorities in Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson said Russian shelling Tuesday hit a hospital, killing a doctor on his first day of work and wounding a nurse, an attack that was specifically condemned by the United Nations.

“The unacceptable attack that today damaged a hospital in Kherson is just another example of the horrific consequences of Russia’s invasion for civilians in Ukraine,” U.N. humanitarian coordinator Denise Brown said in a statement. “Not even those providing vital services to people whose lives have been torn apart by the war are being spared.”

Since Russia invaded in February 2022, the World Health Organization has verified more than 1,000 attacks on healthcare facilities in Ukraine, more than 60% of all attacks against healthcare in the world in that time frame.

Missiles, exploding drones again hit Ukraine's power, water

The United Nations said that in some parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, including Kherson, not even half of the hospitals or clinics remain functional.

In the Kharkiv region, officials said Tuesday that Russian attacks using Iranian-made Shahed drones hit a building at an educational institution and a building at a sports complex.

Russian attacks on Ukrainian towns have left a trail of dead and injured, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stress Ukraine’s need for long-range weapons.

At least six people were killed by two Russian missiles that hit the city of Kryvyi Rih in southern Ukraine, Zelenskyy’s hometown, Ukrainian officials said Monday.

During his nightly video address Monday, Zelenskyy said preliminary data show that the two missiles were fired at Kryvyi Rih from Russian-occupied Crimea, from the area of Dzhankoy.

“This proves again and again that for the safety of our cities, for the protection of the normal life of Ukrainians and our children, our military must have enough long-range weapons, enough means to defeat terrorists. The world's sanctions pressure against Russia deserves a significant increase,” he said.

Peace summit

U.S. government officials will attend a summit on Ukraine in Saudi Arabia, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller announced during a briefing on Monday, saying that he could not provide more details.

The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that Saudi Arabia would invite Western states, Ukraine and major developing countries to the high-level talks.

Saudi Arabia’s summit is reportedly scheduled to be held in Jeddah over the weekend to discuss the implementation of Zelenskyy’s peace plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called for an end to the "irrational" war in Ukraine and urged the upcoming peace talks in the Middle East to include representation from both Ukraine and Russia.

Lopez Obrador said Mexico would only participate in the peace talks if both sides were present.

The Mexican president has tried to keep his country neutral in the war, though his government has backed some major U.N. resolutions against Russia. Mexico has refused to send arms to Ukraine and has not imposed sanctions against Russia.

The Kremlin said Monday it would "follow" the meeting but did not currently see conditions for peace talks with Kyiv.