‘War’ is coming to Russia, says Ukraine’s Zelensky after Moscow drone attack

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Sunday (July 30) warned that the “war” was coming to Russia after a drone attack on the capital Moscow. The statement comes hours after Russia claimed three Ukrainian drones were downed over Moscow, early Sunday. Meanwhile, Pope Francis called for Russia to reverse its decision on the Black Sea grain deal.

Zelensky’s warning

Hours after the two office blocks were damaged and one person was injured in a night-time Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow, Zelensky said, “Today is the 522nd day of the so-called ‘Special Military Operation’, which the Russian leadership thought would last a couple of weeks.”

“Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia – to its symbolic centres and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process,” Zelensky, who was in the midst of a visit to the western Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk, added.

“Ukraine is getting stronger,” said the Ukrainian president.

Russian attacks on Ukrainian power grids?

However, Zelensky also warned that Kyiv expects Moscow to resume its attacks on Ukraine’s energy system once cold weather returns later this year.

Nearly 40 per cent of the Ukrainian energy system was damaged in Russian missile and drone strikes over the past winter, according to a report by Reuters, the attacks had plunged Ukrainian cities into darkness and cold.

Kyiv has since alleged that the attacks targeting its energy grids were a deliberate strategy to harm civilians and called it a war crime. However, Moscow said that the attacks were launched to reduce Ukraine’s ability to fight.

“It is obvious that this fall and...in the winter the enemy will try to repeat the terror against the Ukrainian energy industry. We should be ready for this in any case,” said Zelensky, while addressing senior government, security, and regional officials.

“At the government and security level, we will do everything possible,” he added. The Ukrainian government security officials and energy workers were working to protect the energy system from physical damage, sabotage or cyberattacks, said Zelensky, as per Reuters.

However, every city and town across Ukraine must prepare to handle energy sector emergencies, he added.

Drone attack on Moscow

The attack damaged two office towers and briefly shut down an international airport. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin took to Telegram and said no one suffered injuries and reported “slight damage” to the facades of two city office towers.

Pope urges Russia to restore Black Sea grain deal

“I appeal to my brothers, the authorities of the Russian Federation, so that the Black Sea initiative may be resumed and grain may be transported safely,” said Francis. He also urged the crowd gathered at St Peter’s Square to continue praying “for martyred Ukraine, where war is destroying everything, even grain,” calling this “a grave insult to God.”

The pope also said that the “cry of millions of brothers and sisters who are suffering from hunger is rising up to the sky.” The Ukrainian president took to X, formerly known as Twitter and welcomed Francis’ remarks.

“The reaction of the world’s religious leaders to the Russian missile terror and destruction of Ukrainian agricultural products is extremely important to protect the whole world, and especially the peoples of Africa and Asia, who suffer the most from the threat of hunger, from a food crisis,” Zelensky wrote on the microblogging platform.

(With inputs from agencies)

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