United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ office has condemned a series of drone attacks on Moscow and called for an end to “any and all attacks on civilian facilities.” Russia has blamed the “terrorist strikes” on Ukraine, and Kiev has heavily suggested that it was responsible.
“We are against any and all attacks on civilian facilities and we want them to stop,” Guterres’ deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq, told reporters on Monday.
Haq spoke a day after multiple unmanned airborne vehicles (UAVs) were intercepted over Moscow’s financial district, with debris from the downed craft damaging two skyscrapers and injuring one person.
One of the same buildings was damaged again on Tuesday, when one of three incoming UAVs was electronically jammed and veered off course into the glass facade of the tower, according to Russian authorities.
While Kiev has not taken direct responsibility yet, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky declared on Sunday that “war is returning to the territory of Russia,” while one of his top advisers, Mikhail Podoliak, said on Tuesday that “Moscow is rapidly getting used to a full-fledged war,” and will soon experience “more unidentified drones, more collapse, [and] more civil conflicts.”
Zelensky and his officials have followed a similar pattern after previous Ukrainian strikes on civilian infrastructure. Ukrainian officials cheered the bombing of the Crimean Bridge last October, but denied responsibility. Ukrainian security officials eventually admitted to the attack earlier this summer, and claimed responsibility for a follow-up strike on the bridge last month.
Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Ukraine is launching “terrorist strikes” on Moscow and other civilian targets in Russia out of frustration over its failures on the battlefield. The attempted drone strikes are “some sort of acts of desperation against the background of those failures. And, of course, Kiev resorts to such terrorist tactics,” Peskov said.
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Russia has thus far limited its missile and drone strikes within Ukraine to military and infrastructure targets. Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev warned last month that this may soon change if Kiev continues to attack Russian civilians.
“We need to choose non-typical targets for our strikes. Not only warehouses, energy hubs, and oil bases,” said Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council. “There are other places where they are not expecting us yet. And where the effect will be very significant.”
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