President Biden Welcomes President Of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky To The White House

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In a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/30/moscow-drones-kyiv-russia-counteroffensive/" target=_blank>rare attack deep inside Russian territory</a>, at least two residential buildings in Moscow were hit by drones Tuesday morning, Moscow’s mayor said on Telegram. No one was seriously injured, the mayor said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed without providing evidence that Ukraine was behind the drone strikes, which it called a “terrorist attack.” Kyiv denied involvement. The Washington Post was unable to independently verify the claims. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the attacks would provoke retaliation.

The strikes in Moscow occurred after Russia conducted its third aerial attack on Kyiv in 24 hours. Falling debris killed at least one person and wounded at least four people in Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. The air raid was the 17th this month, he said.

Later Tuesday, Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, presented the U.N. Security Council with the agency’s monitoring plan: a set of safeguards meant to avoid an accident at <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/20/zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-russia-ukraine/" target=_blank>Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant</a>. The plan calls for unhindered operation and maintenance of nuclear facilities, as well as several commitments regarding attacks and weapon storage in and around the plant.

“We are fortunate that a nuclear accident has not yet happened,” Grossi said. Still, he warned, if the status quo continues, “one day our luck will run out.”

Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.

Reports varied on how many drones were used in the strikes against Russia’s capital. <a href="https://t.me/mod_russia/26960" target=_blank>Russia’s Defense Ministry</a> said that there were eight, and that Russia was able to jam three of the drones, which deviated from their intended targets, while it shot down five others with antiaircraft missiles and artillery. Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein <a href="https://t.me/Hinshtein/3924" target=_blank>said</a> drones were brought down across the Moscow region, including inside the capital and in three districts west of the city. Other reports said more than 25 drones were involved in the attack. The Post could not independently verify the claims.

The drone attack in Moscow caused minor damage, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Emergency services officials evacuated residents from two buildings affected by the attack, he said.

Putin accused Kyiv of “trying to intimidate Russia, intimidate Russian citizens and strike residential buildings.” In remarks during a visit to a cultural center in Moscow on Tuesday afternoon, he suggested that the attack was retaliation for a Russian strike on a Ukrainian military site and was “aimed at evoking a mirror response from Russia.” Russia’s Defense Ministry <a href="https://t.me/mod_russia_en/7626" target=_blank>said</a> Tuesday that its armed forces targeted “central decision-making points where terrorist attacks against Russian territory were being planned under the guidance of Western intelligence experts.”

A Ukrainian presidential adviser said Kyiv was not involved in the strikes in Moscow. Asked by a Ukrainian television channel about the attack Tuesday, Mykhailo Podolyak said, “Of course we have no direct involvement.” Podolyak later clarified in a WhatsApp message: “The war is more and more obviously returning to Russia itself, which is absolutely not ready for it,” he wrote, in response to a question about what the attacks meant for the future of the conflict. “If Russian armed groups do not leave the borders of Ukraine in the near future, the Kremlin will have to fight on two fronts — an external one in Ukraine and an internal one — with its own citizens.”

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Ukraine has the “right to project force beyond its borders” in response to Russia’s invasion. Speaking to reporters at a news conference in Estonia on Tuesday, Cleverly said “legitimate military targets” outside of Ukraine could be included in the country’s self-defense. “We should recognize that,” he said, <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-russia-war-latest-moscow-drone-attack-kyiv-putin-12541713" target=_blank>according to Sky News</a>.

“We do not support attacks inside of Russia,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about Tuesday’s drone strikes. U.S. officials have consistently voiced discomfort with Ukraine’s striking targets outside of its internationally recognized territory. The State Department is “still gathering information” about the attacks on Moscow, a department spokesperson said Tuesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive subject.

In Kyiv, Ukraine’s military destroyed more than 20 Russian drones in the city’s airspace, the local military administration said early Tuesday. But residential buildings and vehicles were damaged, it <a href="https://t.me/VA_Kyiv/1937" target=_blank>said</a>. Russia’s previous attack, on Monday, included Iranian-designed drones, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and guided bombs, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky <a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/nashimi-uspihami-tiskom-ta-petriotami-mi-vidpovidatimemo-ros-83229" target=_blank>said</a> in his nightly address.

Ukrainian troops intercepted most of the Russian missiles and drones launched over the previous day, Ukraine’s military <a href="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FGeneralStaff.ua%2Fposts%2Fpfbid032pyvQwNFFrHGJttvcosd1aj3Sddo32GbvjeVgeg6LeP4nfzNuF57KAhLjJ9ueQ3bl" target=_blank>said</a> Tuesday. Ukraine said it shot down 36 of 40 cruise missiles and 30 of 38 drones. All 11 of Russia’s Iskander missiles fired at critical infrastructure in Kyiv were destroyed, the military added.

Russia’s latest attacks came from different directions and in multiple waves, the city’s military administration <a href="https://t.me/VA_Kyiv/1937" target=_blank>said</a> in a statement. Russia is also continually altering the weapons used in aerial bombardments, it said, either combining missiles and drones or using drones exclusively, it said.

At least one person was killed and several others were injured in strikes Monday against Russia’s western Belgorod region, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov <a href="https://t.me/vvgladkov/2354" target=_blank>said</a> on Telegram. Gladkov said more than 200 shells fell on towns and villages in Belgorod. He alleged that Ukraine was behind the attack. The region borders Ukraine and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/01/russia-belgorod-fire-helicopter-ukraine/?itid=lk_inline_manual_24" target=_blank>has been struck before</a>.

Russian offensive operations in and around Bakhmut have slowed, according to Ukrainian officials, and none were reported in the area in the past day, the general staff of the armed forces <a href="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FGeneralStaff.ua%2Fposts%2Fpfbid032pyvQwNFFrHGJttvcosd1aj3Sddo32GbvjeVgeg6LeP4nfzNuF57KAhLjJ9ueQ3bl" target=_blank>said</a> early Tuesday. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar <a href="https://t.me/annamaliar/801" target=_blank>said</a> Monday that the intensity of Russian actions has significantly decreased because troops from the Wagner mercenary group are being replaced with regular soldiers and Moscow is trying to stabilize its defenses in the area.

South Africa plans to offer diplomatic immunity to leaders attending the BRICS summit in August — a cohort that may include Putin, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. “This is a standard conferment of immunities that we do for all international conferences and summits held in South Africa irrespective of the level of participation,” South Africa’s foreign ministry said Tuesday. “The immunities are for the conference and not for specific individuals.” In March, the ICC accused Putin and another Russian official of forced deportation of children from Ukraine. South Africa, a member of the International Criminal Court, may be legally compelled to arrest Putin; the foreign ministry’s announcement noted that the offered immunities “do not override any warrant.” The Russian president has not yet said whether he will attend the summit.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Sweden to meet with officials about the war in Ukraine and other matters, the State Department <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-travel-to-sweden-norway-and-finland/" target=_blank>said</a>. Blinken <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/30/sweden-turkey-nato-blinken/?itid=lk_inline_manual_29" target=_blank>urged Turkey on Tuesday</a> to take immediate action on Sweden’s bid to join NATO, saying there was no reason for further delay in bolstering the trans-Atlantic alliance at a time of profound tension with Russia. Blinken will be in Norway on Wednesday for talks with NATO foreign ministers, and then to Finland, NATO’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/04/04/finland-joins-nato/?itid=lk_inline_manual_29" target=_blank>newest member</a><a href="http://member.to/" target=_blank>.</a>

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) criticized “Russian efforts to arrest and try me for speaking the truth,” after Russia’s Interior Ministry issued an arrest warrant for Graham following a <a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/volodimir-zelenskij-zustrivsya-iz-senatorom-ssha-lindsi-grem-83189" target=_blank>meeting</a> last week between the senator and Ukraine’s president. While in Kyiv, Graham said that the “Russians are dying” and that U.S. financial assistance to Ukraine was “the best money we’ve ever spent.” The remarks appear to have been spoken in different parts of Graham’s conversation with Zelensky, but the video released by Ukraine juxtaposed them, triggering outrage in Russia. On Monday, <a href="https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1663298821147840512" target=_blank>Graham said</a> he doesn’t “expect to be tried by Russia anytime soon.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the West is stepping up support for Ukraine. “Everyone is on alert for signs of fatigue in our democracies, in NATO countries and partners, in terms of our ability to support,” he said at an event in Oslo, the Norwegian capital, on Tuesday, CNN reported. “So far, we haven’t seen it.”

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/29/memorial-day-americans-killed-ukraine-russia-war/" target=_blank>The American military veterans who’ve fallen in Ukraine:</a> At least 16 Americans have died while fighting for Ukraine, Alex Horton and Dan Lamothe report. Survivors of the fallen say these Americans were inspired by the same ideals that motivated them to serve in the U.S. military: love of liberty and a disdain for tyranny.

Tim Gruber

Memorial Day, by tradition, is a remembrance of those who have fallen fighting the United States’ wars. This year, for these families, it stirred a complicated set of emotions as they reckoned with the meaning of service under one flag and sacrifice under another.

Isobel Koshiw and Natalia Abbakumova contributed to this report.

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Andrew Jeong is a reporter for The Washington Post in its Seoul hub. 

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Annabelle Timsit is a breaking news reporter for The Washington Post's London hub, covering news as it unfolds in the United States and around the world during the early morning hours in Washington.

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Natalia Abbakumova is a researcher for The Washington Post's Moscow Bureau.

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Harvard University, BA in social studies with a minor in Middle Eastern studies and an Arabic language citation

Claire Parker is the Cairo bureau chief for The Washington Post, leading coverage of North Africa and Yemen.

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Russia-Ukraine war news: Kremlin blames Kyiv for drone strikes on Moscow

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