Moment a drone slams into Moscow skyscraper and explodes for the second time in two days – as Russia claims it used ‘electronic warfare’ to force it to lose control
- The IQ building in Moscow houses seven different ministries, including the Ministry of Economy and Communications
- Surveillance camera footage believed to have been taken from the tower shows an explosion shortly before 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning
- It is the second time in 24 hours that the tower has been attacked by drones
A Moscow high-rise, housing seven ministries, was attacked by drones in the early hours of Tuesday morning, with explosions inside the building for the second time in two nights.
The IQ building houses the Russian Ministry of Economy and Communications.
Surveillance footage from inside the tower in the city center several miles west of the Kremlin, shared online, appeared to show an explosion shortly before 1am.
But Igor Sushko, a Russia-Ukrainian observer, said the timestamp on the footage could be wrong, as Moscow’s air defenses shot down a drone on the outskirts of the city at 3:13 am. He speculated that the tower could have been attacked at 3:50 am, not 12:50 am.
Footage shared online in Moscow in the early hours of Tuesday showed smoke billowing from the IQ building in Moscow’s financial district
Surveillance camera footage from inside the building appeared to show the moment of impact
The previous attack on the tower was caused by a drone and initial suspicions were that this was a repeat
The tower is home to seven different ministries, including the Ministry of Economy and Communications
Russia’s defense ministry said the previous night’s attack was a foiled Ukrainian drone strike — the second in a week.
No one was injured in that attack and there was only minor damage, but such attacks are inconvenient for authorities who have told the public that Russia is in full control of what they call its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Technology giant Yandex, with offices across the Russian capital, including Moskva-Citi, asked staff to leave offices at night, when strikes are frequent in the Russian capital.
“Taking into account the situation, we ask you not to be in the office at night (from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m.), ” Yandex said in a message to employees.
“The restriction applies to all offices in Moscow. Greetings!’
Many companies in Russia continue to have employees work in hybrid mode, split between home and office, after the lockdowns imposed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Ukraine’s attacks on Moscow and other Russian targets were “acts of desperation” and that Russia was taking all possible measures to defend against attacks.
Kiev typically does not claim responsibility for specific incidents on Russian territory and has not claimed responsibility for the latest attack.
However, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the war is “gradually returning to the territory of Russia – to its symbolic centers.”
The hole in the IQ tower is seen after a drone strike
Two drones reached the Kremlin in May, the most high-profile incident, but other attacks targeted buildings near the Defense Ministry headquarters on the Moscow River and the exclusive suburb of Rublyovka, home to much of the Russian political, business and cultural elite.
In Sunday’s attack, glass panels in a high-rise building were blown off and glass, debris and office documents lay on part of the sidewalk below.
Video footage of the incident showed a bright orange explosion accompanied by a deafening bang.
A Telegram channel of the Russian online media group Mash broadcast photos of the damage to the headquarters of the digital ministry.
Mash reported that ministry staff had been asked to be resilient, but most employees would be allowed to temporarily work from home.