Tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalated as Ukraine was accused of launching a drone attack on Moscow, while Russia responded by striking port infrastructure in southern Ukraine. Sergei Sobyanin, mayor of the Russian capital, reported that two non-residential buildings were hit, with no one injured. Russian authorities claimed that the military jammed the drones, forcing them to crash, with one drone falling on the Komsomolsky motorway near the city center. The Komsomolsky motorway was closed, and emergency service workers inspected the damage.
The attack on Moscow was the second in a month, with the previous one occurring on July 4. Ukrainian authorities did not immediately claim responsibility for the strike. In a separate incident, Russian authorities reported that Ukrainian drones targeted an ammunition depot in Crimea, forcing a halt in traffic on a major motorway and a railway crossing the Black Sea peninsula.
Ukraine’s digital transformation minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, said the drone attacks on Moscow and Crimea show Russia’s electronic warfare means and air defenses are “less and less able to protect the skies of the invaders.” He also stated that Ukraine will continue to target Russia’s military installations.
Vladimir Putin (Via Vladimir Putin/Twitter)
Meanwhile, Russia launched new strikes on port infrastructure in southern Ukraine, injuring four workers and destroying a grain hangar and storage facilities. Ukrainian forces downed three of the attacking drones, according to the Ukrainian military. The attack was the latest in a series of attacks on critical port infrastructure in southern Ukraine in the past week.
The conflict also spilled into the global grain market, with wheat prices rising more than 8.5% on Monday after the attack on the Danube River, a key thoroughfare for Ukraine’s grain exports. The attack raises concerns about the security of grain shipments and the impact on global food supplies. Russia and Ukraine are two of the world’s major wheat, barley, and vegetable oil suppliers.
