ap for mankind. ♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news".

hello i am louis jon. you're watching the context on bbc news. reporter: you can see this video in the aftermath of the attack. the video of a skyscraper building. with the windows blown out. this complex was targeted 24 hours earlier. >> it flew into the building and the most important thing is that everyone is alive and ok. they said they would not hit the same place twice. i woke up shocked but i do not -- i do not think -- i do not know what i will do but i think i will move from here. >> when we see this in russia it gets more attention than when we

see it in ukraine. ♪ louis: welcome to the program. a second drone attack on a skyscraper in moscow. the ukrainian president said that war is coming to russia and what this means for ukraine's counteroffensive. and france is sending rescue flights to get its citizens out after the military coup there. most alcohol up and house prices down. we will look at what the changes mean the cost of living. a look at why husband and wife are about to open i spaceport on a tiling i -- tiny island. ♪ louis: we start with the war in ukraine but we are actually starting in moscow. president zelenskyy saying the war is coming to russia. take a look at this drone attack on an office walk in moscow.

it is in two days, three government ministries live inside about block. the mayor of moscow saying nobody was hurt. this was the aftermath of the second attack last night. also the seventh drone reportedly shut down by air defense systems. take a look at this map and the red dots they are, moscow has reported a number of drone attacks throughout the year. these are some of them. many of them targeted as you can see close to be ukraine russia border. what does all this mean? here is our reporter. reporter: drone striking in the heart of the capital are a big psychological boost for the ukrainians, but here at bbc verify we have been looking at the impact they have been having. what is really happening on the ground and in the air.

have a look at this videohis is the latest strike on moscow. you can see in the video the aftermath of the attack and the damage to a skyscraper building. the windows blown out. this complex was targeted 24 hours earlier. we have a video of that and after a few seconds, a huge explosion here rips through what is the business financial district in moscow. some people come out at this point to work out what has been going on and they start to work -- record on their phone the aftermath of this. we have a look at the map and this place is what we are talking about. home to government buildings, luxury flats, restaurants and other businesses. it is about five kilometers away. men ukrainians talk about the war coming to president clinton's doorstep this is what they mean. this is a satellite image of the block that was struck twice in 48 hours. this is all the same building and it was a target for the

ukrainians. if we are thinking about the actual drone that was used, in the videos you cannot see anything clearly at all. have a look at this video. this is something we've been looking at, this was taken on the outskirts of the russian capital. a distinctive shape of this drone because the rear wing is much bigger than the first one. this video we put on loop, but we have asked drone expertso look at this and they say it points to this particular drone with a large rear wing and the smaller front wing. they say it looks like a particular drone that is ukrainian made and a long-range device. it has a range of about 1000 kilometers gingerly enough to fly from ukrainian control territory to moscow. ukraine has not said it is responsible for the attacks, we do not know where the drones were sent out from. what we have been trying to do here at bbc verify is look at

the bigger picture. and to do that we look at the russian media and reports of suspected drone strikes so far this year. have a look at this map. there is a concentration around moscow which is clear and toward the russian border as well. and the heart you -- heart region of ukraine and the border and other ukrainian drone strikes reported in russia controlled crimea. you can see the attacks they are. if we look at the reports we could say there's been more than 120 attacks so far this year. this gives an indication of how ukrainians are striking not just at the russian capital, but other parts of russia itself and russian control territory. louis: two more quick updates for you. russia says it destroyed three ukrainian unmanned boats that were trying to attack to russian naval ships in the black sea. also, drone attacks taking place

on ukraine and kyvi a college dorm was hit overnight into tuesday. and then there was a missile strike on monday. and i moved to my colleague for bbc monitoring which analyzes video around the world. and they are in odessa. thank you for joining us. i want to look into areas. firstly the drone attacks on moscow, i want to spend a bit of time looking at the russian reaction to that and what it can tell us, if anything, about the wider counteroffensive. we will get more to that a little later. the drone attacks in moscow, what is the narrative around these in russian media? reporter: the kremlin's media machine is trying to use this

attack as further justification of what officials in moscow insist on calling a special military operation in ukraine. they are saying that ukraine is a threat that needs to be tackled. also, there is a certain degree of unwillingness to focus on these highly embarrassing attacks too much. that seems to be the whole point of what may possibly be an attack carried out by ukraine or somebody sympathetic towards ukraine. and that is to undermine president putin's key stated objective of his operation in ukraine which was to make russia safer. as residents of moscow can see over the past few days, this has not really happened.

in fact, security in moscow has become much, much worse. louis: what you think that does to the support for vladimir putin? the support for the war in ukraine? amongst all the people in moscow? reporter: i have been able to speak to one resident moscow earlier today. she said that her friends and relatives were not particularly concerned about this because clearly the impact of these drone attacks has been minimal. some glass shattered in moscow's business quarter which also happens to house some ministries. this clearly isn't going to trigger a sweeping change of how russians feel and how they see the special military operation, but if you follow a --

conversations on social media in ukraine these attacks are seen as the beginning of something which ukraine can achieve in the future, a demonstration of capability. these attacks are something that is being watched closely both in russia and ukraine. louis: interesting. i want to pick up on that point. just before he got to the final point, the idea that it is actually some broken glass. nothing too major. is this, in your assessment, a successful ukrainian policy of military strategy or not? >> you know, the question is what was the aim? it was definitely not the military, but first of all to think logical. we accept that these actions were not reaching the ammunition

core and logistical that we see -- and other areas. this psychologal information in fact is more important in this case. when you follow the missile backwards you can find these two main feelings. first of all, how ukrainians managed to do it if they manage to do it in moscow that should be the most protected city. what they will be able to do in the outer parts of russia and russian propaganda is presenting the ukrainian arm forces as incapable. how can they be incapable if they do something like this? the second is -- the filled measures in moscow increased since the first attack in the kremlin -- against the kremlin. and we saw this as they hit the roof of the ministry of defense building. as a result, we have several

nights with ukrainian drones without injuries and that is the goal of the drones to be used against the building where the ministries and some business people are stationed. and what it says about the russian air defense, moscow air defense. we understand there is just a small part of the bigger puzzle of demonstrating to the russian people as well that the war is not something only in the taliban channels. the war is real and they are capable. louis: that is fascinating. let's broaden the target from just the drone attacks and this specific attack to the wider issue of ukrainian counteroffensive. how to the drone attacks feed into it if at all and what is happening? reporter: well, this war has already been called by many people as a drone war. you can say the future has arrived for all the wrong

reasons. to put it simply, ukraine doesn't have enough long-range missiles and military aircraft to target russian troops and hardware from a safe distance. that is why it has had to rely on drones. you see numerous videos and pictures where off-the-shelf chinese made relatively cheap drones have been modified to drop grenades onto russian troops, for example. that is a tactic ukraine has been using recently successfully. in terms of the wide counter offensive, there is a debate going on in ukrainian media whether this is even the right question to ask.

whether it is progressing because as we have -- progressing fast enough. because as we have seen even the square kilometers captured by russians come at an increasingly high price. so, the battle goes on and ukrainians die on the daily and nightly situation. -- nightly basis. they -- it is a tragic situation no matter how you look at it. louis: ok i want to talk about the lack of strength of ukraine in the air. ukraine chose to launch this without aircraft military superiority. they did not envy the position where you're trying to launch a major counteroffensive to reclaim territory without superiority in the air. is it a fact now that ukraine

has a wafer that two of -- wait for that to arrive? >> that's a difficult question. when you look at the u.s. it has been a huge air support but at the same time we understand that we do not have a superiority for the next 6-7 month. that doesn't mean that we should allow russia to continue their offensive operation for these missiles but it does not mean that russian people should continue living under population -- occupation and war crimes for the next seven months. that is why they tried to create as much as possible. that is why they assembled so many drones. -- they limited supply to the front line. russian production is not as quick as it used to be at the beginning of the war, that is why ukraine -- for several days

mentioned the front line is several kilometers and russian -- identified where the big counteffensive would take place. that is why -- unfortunately we cannot wait until that moment when the western allies decide, ok, you deserve to have an f-16 oromething like these. that is why we have air test. the reason we have been waiting the lessons months is because everything was waiting. in march. without hesitation, ukrainian and our partners hesitation, we see -- the defense from the minefields to most parts of the front line. louis: ok i must leave it there but fascinating stuff. thank you both very much. now, around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news. take a look at some of the stories across the u.k. now.

people in the west have voted to remove the mp from her seat in parliament. nearly 12,000 of her constituents side -- signed recall. the uk's biggest farming insurer says criminals have laid siege to the countryside after it recorded a 22% increase in the cost of rural crime last year. and they say some use drones and social media to scope out valuable agricultural equipment. the organized crime is an ineasing problem for the industry and it is causing widespread concern. retailers say the rate to which food prices are rising and -- in shops is at its lowessince last december. food inflation slowed to 13.4% since july -- in july.

you are live with bbc news. next we take a look at the situation in west africa. several planes are apparently in the air headed to the country to evacuate french and other european citizens from the country. this is all of course after last week's military coup there. this is -- these are the latest pictures we have from there. foreign nationals arriving at the airport to -- trying to leave to the u.s., spain, italy arranging emergency flights. how do we get to this point? our colleague has the breakdown. reporter: this city is the largest country in west africa. it is a key part of the belt of

land that stretches from the atlantic ocean to the red sea. this is a territory that has been destabilized by military regimes. that is one of the reasons why it is so important. it is seen as an oasis of democracy in an otherwise troubled region. what went wrong? why do we now see a coup there? the military soldiers say they staged a coup because of the lack of governance and security in the country. [speaking another language] >> the action is motivated by the sole desire to preserve our beloved homeland. in the face of security situations for our country. reporter: could there be other reasons? the former president -- they have appointed the leading security intelligence chiefs in

the city. and he has thought to stamp his authority by changing this. what we are seeing is really guided by the president to prevent this missile. reporter: nevertheless the coup did have some support among the public but others are more skeptical. [speaking another language] >> we think the arrival of the military head of the country will give us more heart. their arrival and because the situation of security to change. schools are closed and they will reopen. [speaking another language] >> the same actors who appeared on tv today are really the same ones that have been at the forefront in the fight against terrorism. if these are the same actors that fight against terrorism as a pretext to take tower they we need to be agile and to make

sure the fight against terrorism does not give them the opportunity to stay in power forever. reporter: what has been the reaction to all of this internationally? let's start with the neighbors of the city. it is part of a grouping of 15 countries which is an economic community of west african states. the other countries in that club have one week deafblind to restore the country to the democratic rule -- one week deadline to restore the country to the democratic rule. this city has geopolitical importance. >> we see this being about $4.6 billion with building the longest oil pipeline on the continent. the second is of course, france

kicked them out and attempted them. a huge oasis supposedly helping fight the jihad and also france is an interest in uranium providing almost 80% of the energy needs of france. then we have a united states which has the largest drone base on the continent. reporter: despite all that the have to ofr the foreign powers, almost half of the population still lives below the poverty line. hopes for better governance and a better standard of living are even more at risk. louis: thank you for that. we want to explore the russian influence in this area. we speak to our coworker that analyzes news and media. talk me through why we see the

russian flags in the country. reporter: it is not unusual considering the fact that previously protests were not allowed to take place there. and mainly anti-french protests these started taking place last year when they approve the deployment of french forces in the country. it is not just in this area, but also other parts against french military intervention. and for some people live solution is in russia and it's interesting because part of it is because of the target campaigns by pro-russian activists and the group that has been running insurance companies. one of the biggest incubators in the public and t other one is how russia presents itself as an ally to the region. the foreign secretary visited molly earlier this year and they said they had plans to expand the gulf of guinea and it appeared to be a statement that targeted countries that are open to russia.

they called for corroboration of russia and the expungement of french forces. louis: interesting. from a psychological point of view, is this the real resent action -- rejection of france or is it a love of russia? what about online media operations here but seem to have worked? reporter: one thing i will say is that it is largely opportunistic. despond and see in france is not necessarily an echo ovation of russia advance. at the same time some of the groups are going to lead -- lean toward russian support. there are some activists who have been previously touting for closer -- pushing out the west and they have in some ways been closer to russia. there's also been some groupings they tend to aim to. days -- faye tend to be socl activists groups.

it is not so much that they are anti-french or pro-russian, it is that they are affiliated with the groups and speaking the sentiments of the people in the intervention and tour the west because they feel the intervention against the military has been an active -- enacted -- it has failed and in many instances it makes a parody of the west and discredits them in that way. louis: that is a fascinating issue. we could talk for hours and hours but i am afraid we are nearly out of time. i will let you go. that is beverly from bbc monitoring talking us through the online operation and those shifts of loyalty in this area. there is a developing situation which is with efforts for the evacuation of students many

european countries and the u.s.. we know the latest is that france did serve and rescue evacuation effort and it is underway it says. these are the latest pictures we have these are people that are citizens of many countries, france and european countries and the u.s. as i mention. many are being told to head to the airport. you see them arriving there and waiting. they are waiting for rescue flights. not all you are pn countries are sending rescue flights but france is. some countries are saying fectively get on board those french flights. the u.k. for example say if you are a british national and you are there register your location with the u.k. authorities and stay indoors. we will keep across the latest on the evacuation efforts as we get more details. i'm louis, this is bbc news. ♪

rrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news".