Drone hits a building in Moscow, city's mayor says
From CNN's Josh Pennington
Members of security services investigate a damaged office building in the Moscow City following a reported Ukrainian drone attack in Moscow, Russia, on August 1, 2023. Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters
A drone has struck the same building in Moscow that was hit on Sunday, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Tuesday.
"Several drones that were trying to fly into Moscow were shot down by [our] air defense. One flew into the same tower in [Moscow] City as last time. The facade at the 17th floor was damaged," the mayor said.
Some background:Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that war is “gradually returning” to Russia after the Kremlin accused Kyiv of targeting Moscow with drones.
The Russian Defense Ministry said three drones were intercepted Sunday, but a business and shopping development in the west of the capital was hit. The fifth and sixth floors of a 50-story building were damaged, and no casualties were reported, state news agency TASS reported.
Videos showed debris as well as emergency services at the scene.
1:42 a.m. ET, August 1, 2023
Moscow attacks Zelensky’s hometown after he said war had returned to Russia
From CNN's Olga Voitovych and Vasco Cotovio
A firefighter works at a site of an apartment building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, on July 31, 2023. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout
A day after Volodymyr Zelensky said war was “returning to Russia” with an attempted drone strike on Moscow, the Kremlin launched a deadly airstrike against the Ukrainian president’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih on Monday.
Zelensky said more than 350 people were involved in the rescue operation. Emergency services personnel were still searching for survivors under the rubble as of Monday afternoon.
Residents said there were no air raid sirens before the missiles struck and took out significant portions of two buildings. Some said they had little time to scramble for cover.
“This time, we did not have time to orient ourselves,” Kryvyi Rih resident Natalia Balaba said. “My husband was in the corridor. He was knocked down by the wave.”
Balaba said all the windows in their apartment had been shattered and damage lay everywhere.
“We were very frightened. We were in great shock,” she said.
It’s unclear why Russia targeted Kryvyi Rih. Ukrainian officials said there were no military targets nearby. The head of the local defense council, Oleksandr Vilkul called the bombardment a “terrorist attack.”
Russia carried out a similar attack on the city in June, killing 11 people.
The Russian Defense Ministry has not commented on the situation in Kryvyi Rih. Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilian infrastructure, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
On Monday, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the Kremlin would intensify its attacks in response to Kyiv’s attempted drone strikes against Moscow the previous day that damaged a business and shopping development in the west of the capital.
A view of a site of an apartment building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, on July 31, 2023. State Emergency Service Of Ukraine/Handout
1:40 a.m. ET, August 1, 2023
White House calls senior Russian defense official's comments on nuclear weapons reckless
From CNN's Arlette Saenz
The White House is criticizing senior Russian defense official Dmitry Medvedev’s comments suggesting Russia may resort to nuclear weapons if Ukraine is successful in its counteroffensive.
A National Security Council spokesperson called the rhetoric "reckless and irresponsible" on Monday. So far, the US has not seen any indications Russia is preparing to turn to nuclear weapons, the spokesperson added.
“The use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine — or anywhere — would be disastrous for the world and would have severe consequences for Russia," the spokesperson said.
“We continue to monitor this closely, but we have not seen any reason to adjust our own nuclear posture nor any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon,” they added.
Some context: Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, made the comments in a Telegram post. They are the latest in a series of nuclear threats made by Moscow since launching its war against Ukraine.
"Just imagine that the offensive… in tandem with NATO, succeeded and ended up with part of our land being taken away. Then we would have to use nuclear weapons by virtue of the stipulations of the Russian Presidential Decree,” Medvedev said in the post.
“There simply wouldn’t be any other solution,” he added. “Our enemies should pray to our fighters that they do not allow the world to go up in nuclear flames.”
US President Joe Biden said earlier this month that he does not believe Russia would deploy nuclear weapons.
1:33 a.m. ET, August 1, 2023
White House national security official expected to attend Ukraine peace talks in Saudi Arabia, officials say
From CNN's Kylie Atwood
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House on December 12, 2022 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images/FILE
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is expected to attend peace talks on the war in Ukraine next week in Saudi Arabia, US officials said.
Ukraine is taking the lead on the effort which is expected to be attended by Western countries and developing nations. Russia is not expected to attend the talks.
Ukraine’s goal is that the talks work to identify shared principles for ending the war and that there is a peace summit later this year with global leaders signing up to support those principles, US officials said.
The talks hosted in Saudi Arabia are the second in a series of meetings organized by the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak. The first talks took place earlier this year in Copenhagen.
Saudi Arabia was picked for the talks in part because of the country’s relationship with China, one US official explained. While China is not expected to attend the talks, US officials have publicly encouraged China in recent months to play a constructive role in resolving the Ukraine war though there has been no signal of China taking any proactive steps towards a peaceful end.
“I reiterated that we would welcome China playing a constructive role along with other nations to work toward a just peace, based on the principles of the United Nations Charter,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Beijing in June.
