Putin's war hits home: Zelenskyy vows 'war is coming to Russia' after Moscow is rocked by triple drone strike

30 July 2023, 11:02 | Updated: 31 July 2023, 05:44

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed that "war is coming to Russia" after Moscow was rocked by a "kamikaze" drone strike exploding into a fireball yesterday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made the vow after the attacks - as his army's counter-offensive continues apace.

A drone, assumed to be of Ukrainian origin, slipped through heavy air defences on Sunday and hit the IQ Quarter Tower, a 50-storey skyscraper, at about 3.20am while a second hit the Oko-2 building just under an hour later.

The area, dubbed Moscow City, is made up of offices and apartments.

Read more: President Zelenskyy changes law so Ukraine celebrates Christmas on different day to Russia

One person, reportedly a security guard, was injured.

It is the latest time that Vladimir Putin's futile war came home as the three unmanned aerial vehicles slammed into offices in the business district.

Footage of the attack showed civilians screaming as a massive blast erupted in the early morning strike.

One yells "it flies so quick!" while in another video a woman shouts "mummy!" during the attacks.

Read more: President Zelenskyy changes law so Ukraine celebrates Christmas on different day to Russia

The Russian defence ministry said one drone was shot down and two others were jammed, implying the drones were knocked out and flew into buildings.

It blamed Kyiv for the "attempted terrorist attack" - neglecting to mention that Russia has spent more than a year pummelling civilian centres throughout Ukraine.

Ukraine did not say it was behind the attack. Its officials rarely claim responsibility for strikes in Russia, instead posting cryptic references and sometimes suggesting elements within Russia are carrying out the attack.

Photos of the aftermath showed damage to one floor of a skyscraper. Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, said two buildings in Moscow City were "insignificantly damaged".

Read more: British officials' blunder as Ministry of Defence staff accidentally send confidential information to Russian ally

But the attack is a clear sign that even the heavily defended capital can be hit. Previously, a drone crashed into the roof of a Kremlin building, and last week one hit an office building in southern Moscow while another hit near the defence ministry.

That came just weeks after soldiers had to deploy to prepare a potential defence of the city from the rebelling Wagner mercenaries.

In Ukraine, a new counter offensive effort appears under way, with Kyiv's forces slowly advancing in the south and south east against a dense defence of minefields and trenches.

Some Western-trained and equipped units have been committed, leading observers to believe this could be the main effort to liberate more occupied territory.

Analysts have suggested they will try to cut off the "land bridge" to Crimea, Putin's prized asset that he seized by force in 2014.

The risk of having such an culturally and historically important area isolated from Russia could be too great for the president.