Drone hits Moscow tower block housing Russian government offices

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A skyscraper in Moscow’s main business district, home to several government ministries, was damaged by a drone strike on Tuesday for the second time in three days, signalling Ukraine’s intent to step up attacks on strategic targets inside Russia.

The drone hit the IQ-Quarter tower, which houses the offices of Russian trade, digital and economic development ministries. The IQ-Quarter is part of the Moscow City business district, which stretches along the western edge of the city on the banks of the Moskva river and is home to leading Russian companies such as VTB Bank and Norilsk Nickel.

“Several drones were shot down by air defences as they tried to enter Moscow. One hit the same tower as last time. The facade of the 21st floor was damaged,” Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on Telegram at 03.48am local time, adding that there was no information on casualties.

Employees at the economic development ministry, located on the 21st floor that was hit by the drone, were told not to come to the office, Russian newspaper RBC reported.

Meanwhile, Russian drones struck residential buildings in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, destroying the top two floors of a college dormitory.

At least one person was injured in the attack, according to Suspilne, Ukraine’s public broadcaster, which quoted the Kharkiv region’s chief of police Volodymyr Tymoshko. Its report showed footage of smoke rising from the destroyed section of the building.

Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said three drones which were probably launched from Russia’s neighbouring Belgorod region targeted “the middle of the city, in densely populated areas”.

Ukraine’s military also reported dozens of heavy Russian artillery strikes on towns and villages across the 1,000km frontline where Kyiv’s forces were attacking enemy lines as part of a renewed counteroffensive push to win back lost territory. Serhiy Nayev, a Ukrainian commander, said border guards had repelled a group of Russian saboteurs who tried to break through the Ukrainian border in the northern Chernihiv region.

The Russian defence ministry also reported an attempted Ukrainian drone attack on two unmanned patrol ships of the Black Sea Fleet named “Sergei Kotov” and “Vasily Bykov” 340km south-west of Sevastopol. The drones were destroyed, according to the ministry. A drone attack on a ship was last reported on July 25.

The Kremlin has not commented on the latest attacks on Moscow, and there was no immediate statement on responsibility from Kyiv. Ukraine, which was invaded by Russian forces last year, has tended not to take direct credit for attacks and other drone strikes inside Russia. The attacks have also targeted fuel depots and air bases.

But Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the attacks meant “Moscow is rapidly getting used to a full-fledged war, which, in turn, will soon finally move to the territory of the ‘authors of the war’ to collect all their debts”.

“Everything that will happen in Russia is an objective historical process,” he added. “More unidentified drones, more collapse, more civil conflicts, more war.”

Tuesday’s attack is at least the sixth time unmanned aerial vehicles have reached Moscow since two such aircraft were shot down over the Kremlin in May.

Others have hit buildings in suburban areas. Last week, drones crashed into more centrally located buildings, including an office block, and on the night of July 30, the drones damaged the facades of two towers in Moscow City. A security guard was injured in one of them.