White House Spokesperson: We Do Not Support Ukraine's Attacks on Russian Territory

After two Ukrainian drones damaged buildings in Moscow early on Monday, August 2, the White House announced that it does not support Ukraine's attacks inside Russian territory. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House spokesperson, told reporters at a press conference: "As a general matter, we do not support attacks inside Russia." The spokesperson stated: "This is a war that Russia started; it is their war, and they can end it whenever they want by withdrawing their forces from Ukraine instead of brutally attacking civilians." Russia has stated that it will carry out severe retaliatory measures against Ukraine and has described the two drone attacks, including one near the Russian Ministry of Defense headquarters, as a "brazen terrorist act." The two Ukrainian drones caused damage to buildings in Moscow, including one near the Russian Ministry of Defense headquarters. Moscow has spoken of taking severe retaliatory measures against Ukraine, calling it a "brazen terrorist act." No one was injured in these attacks, but one drone came close to a building in Moscow used by Russian military forces for briefings, indicating that similar drones could easily penetrate sensitive areas in Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that a "third helicopter-type drone" that was not carrying explosives crashed in a cemetery in a city outside Moscow, adding that all those involved in this act would be found and punished. The Kremlin has stated that it will continue its operations in Ukraine and will achieve all its objectives, which Kyiv and many in the West consider a brutal war of conquest. Ukraine has almost never publicly claimed responsibility for attacks inside Russia or in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine, but in recent months has stated that destroying Russian military infrastructure aids Kyiv's counteroffensive. Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, calling it a "special military operation" to disarm its neighbor. This war has so far killed thousands, displaced millions, and turned many cities in eastern and southern Ukraine into heaps of rubble. The Russian drone attack on grain warehouses; the Ukrainian drone attack towards Moscow; the Russian weapons depot was targeted by a Ukrainian drone; the Russian Defense Ministry reported the Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow; UNESCO condemned the Russian attack on the Orthodox Cathedral in Odessa.