To what looks like the perfect work of art and science comes a great assurance that Moscow skyscrapers will not collapse, even if a medium-haul plane crashes into them. This was stated to RTVI by the chief architect of Moscow Sergey Kuznetsov, commenting on the stability of the capital’s skyscrapers against the background of drone strikes on the towers of Moscow City.
According to him, Russian and Soviet standards for the construction of skyscrapers are extremely strict. Kuznetsov noted that the Moscow Architectural Institute likes to tell that at the time of the construction of Stalin’s skyscrapers there were “crazy” safety requirements implying a tenfold margin of safety.
“They have a steel frame, unlike most modern Moscow high—rise buildings, where the concrete frame is a technology brought from America, which is less reliable and stable in terms of instability,” said the chief architect of the capital.
Kuznetsov did not agree with critical statements that the construction site of Moscow City was unsuccessful due to the fact that there used to be quarries there and limestones still lie under the skyscrapers.
“It’s true that there was stone mining there. But it’s not true that it’s bad. Unlike, for example, Manhattan, where the quality of the soil is very good — a granite peninsula, you can practically not dig into the ground — in Moscow, the soil is not very good for construction, especially for high-rise. But in the “City” area — and that’s why stone was mined there — calcareous, serious foundation,” he explained.
Moscow skyscrapers will not collapse, even if a medium-haul plane crashes into them, Kuznetsov is sure.
“Even Eurasia with a steel frame will not collapse. High—rise buildings may have other risks – fire, for example. A collision with an airplane can cause a fire. If we discard all the conspiracy theory in the case of September 11, then we can probably imagine that the fire caused the collapse, and not the impact of the plane,” said the chief architect of Moscow.
- Attempts to attack Moscow with drones have become more frequent since the end of July. On July 30 and August 1, drones twice hit the IQ-Quarter tower of the Moscow City business center, where the offices of several federal agencies are located. During the first attack, the Oko-2 tower was also damaged.
- There were no casualties as a result of the incidents, the glazing of skyscrapers was damaged.
From the beginning of May to August 10 inclusive, drones flew to Moscow 11 times, the newspaper “Layout” calculated. During this period, more than 30 aircraft were involved in the attacks. Drones attacking the Russian capital are most likely launched from the territory of Ukraine, military expert Vadim Kozyulin told RTVI.