After 17 months, Ukraine targetsRussian “Off-limit” areas

By: Haolun Zhang

On July 30th, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that it had shot down three Ukrainian drones on Sunday, the second time Ukraine had attempted drone attacks this week. One drone was taken down outside of Moscow, but the other two had crashed into office buildings after being shot at by Russian defense.

Nobody was hurt and there was only minor damage to the facade of two office buildings in the Moskva City business district, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. The area the drones had crashed in was several miles from the Kremlin, and one of the damaged buildings was home to three Russian ministries. According to video footage released by the Russian Government, the buildings had holes from explosions.

Although buildings were harmed, the attack still failed. "On the morning of 30th July, an attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime using unmanned aerial vehicles against targets in the city of Moscow was foiled," the ministry said in its statement. The reason that Ukraine targeted residential areas likely is to show Russian citizens the cost of war.

These buildings that were attacked had been marked by Russians as “Off-limits” for 17 months. Still, according to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, “gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia,” including military and “symbolic” centers. Zelensky believes that “this is an inevitable, natural, and fair process.”

After the Russian attack on Odesa, Ukrainian citizens have had searing hate for Russians. One of the most beloved buildings in Ukraine, the House of Scientists, is in shambles. “I feel pain, and I want revenge,” said Ms. Sulzhenko, 74, a Ukrainian citizen. “I don’t have the words to say what we should do to them.” As hate for Russia grows stronger in Ukraine, more attacks shall be launched toward Russia.

In Moscow, a young woman who gave her name as Liya told Reuters she was in an apartment she had rented with some friends at the moment of Sunday's strike. "At some point, we heard an explosion and it was like a wave, everyone jumped," she said. "And then there was a lot of smoke and you couldn't see anything. From above, you could see fire."

Although the situation at hand has been controlled, more drone attacks are imminent to come from both sides of the war, brewing hate for countless citizens of both countries.