Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that "war is returning to Russia" after three Ukrainian drones were shot down over Moscow.
During his visit to the city of Ivano-Frankivsk, Zelenski said that the war is gradually returning to the territory of Russia - to "its symbolic centers and military bases", and that it is "an inevitable, natural and absolutely just process".
"Ukraine is getting stronger," added Zelensky.
The Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, said that Moscow would have had to use nuclear weapons if Kiev's counter-offensive had been successful.
Medvedev said on his official accounts on social networks, congratulating the Day of the Russian Navy, that Russia would be forced to rely on its own nuclear doctrine in such a scenario, reports Reuters.
"Imagine that the offensive, which is supported by NATO, had succeeded and that they had taken part of our country, then we would be forced to use nuclear weapons, based on the rules of the Russian president," said Medvedev.
According to him, there would simply be no other way out.
"That's why our enemies should pray for our warriors. They don't allow a global nuclear fire to ignite," Medvedev said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expects Russia to continue attacks on his country's energy system when cold weather arrives later this year, and vowed to do everything possible to protect the power grid.
"It is obvious that this fall and... winter, the enemy will try to repeat the terror over the Ukrainian energy industry. We should be ready for that in any case," Zelensky said.
Zelensky said the government, security officials and energy sector workers are working to protect the energy system from physical damage, sabotage or cyber attacks, Reuters reports.
Every city in Ukraine should be ready to deal with emergency situations in the energy sector, Zelensky added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Russian Navy will receive 30 new ships this year, Reuters reported.
Putin spoke at a ceremony in St. Petersburg to mark the Day of the Russian Navy.
Moscow's Vnukovo airport in the southwest of the Russian capital is closed for departing and arriving flights, reports TASS. Flights were being diverted. However, flights continued at other airports in the region.
Moscow has already been the target of several drone attacks, which have come as Russia continues its invasion of neighboring Ukraine launched in February 2022. Radio Free Europe.
The area, a few kilometers from the Kremlin, is known for its modern high-rise towers, and one of the damaged buildings was home to three Russian ministries, Russian media reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he does not reject the idea of peace talks on Ukraine, but that there cannot be a ceasefire while the Kiev offensive continues.
Speaking after a meeting with African leaders in St. Petersburg, he said African and Chinese initiatives could serve as a basis for finding peace, reports the BBC.
Ukraine and Russia have previously said that they will not come to the negotiating table without certain preconditions.
Kiev will not give up its territory, while Moscow demands that Ukraine accept the "new territorial reality".
Putin also said that for now there are no plans to intensify actions on the Ukrainian front.
The Russia-Africa summit comes after an African contingent, including leaders and representatives of seven countries, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin last month.
(BETA)
Pope Francis today called on Russia to revive the Black Sea grain agreement, which allowed Moscow to export grain from its seaports despite the war.
"I appeal to my brothers, the authorities of the Russian Federation, that the initiative for the Black Sea be renewed and that grain can be safely transported," Pope Francis said during his message, reports Reuters.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that in the early hours of the morning it shot down three Ukrainian drones that were trying to carry out what it said was a "terrorist attack" on Moscow.
"No one was injured, and there was only minor damage to the facade of two office buildings in the Moscow City business district," said Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow.
That area, located a few kilometers from the Kremlin, is known for its modern high-rise towers, Reuters reports.
The fact that enemy drones have begun to reach the heart of the Russian capital in recent months, even if they do not cause serious damage, is embarrassing for authorities who have told the public that Russia is in full control of what it calls its "special military operation" against Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry said two drones crashed in the Moscow Siti district after being shot down by radio-electronic equipment. Air defense shot down another one in the air over the Odintsovo area in the Moscow region, the statement said.
"On the morning of July 30, an attempted terrorist attack by the regime in Kiev using drones against targets in the city of Moscow was thwarted," the ministry said in a statement.
Russia carried out some preemptive strikes after what Moscow called a Ukrainian "terrorist attack" that damaged the Crimean bridge, Putin said.
A Russian couple was killed and their 14-year-old daughter wounded last Sunday in what Moscow said was a Ukrainian attack that brought down a road section of a bridge linking Russia with the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin says that Russia has not rejected talks on Ukraine and that the African peace initiative, like the Chinese one, could be the basis for peace.
He said this at a press conference after a meeting with African leaders in St. Petersburg.
Putin also said that "it was difficult to implement a ceasefire when the Ukrainian army was on the offensive."
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