Moscow can no longer consider itself safe from the most serious conflict in Europe since the Second World War. As before other Russian cities, normally near the border with Ukraine, in the early hours of Tuesday morning it was the target of a hail of enemy drones. Anti-aircraft defenses shot down the drones that reached the Russian capital, the Defense Ministry said, but several residential buildings were hit. According to the mayor of the Russian capital, Sergei Sobyanin, there was “minor damage” and two injuries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of attacking the civilian population. Speaking to public television, he said that a few days ago Russia hit the headquarters of Ukrainian military intelligence. “In response, the Kyiv regime has chosen a different path: the path of trying to intimidate Russia, to intimidate Russian citizens with attacks on residential buildings,” he stated. According to him, this is a clear sign of terrorist activity.
It is the biggest heart attack in Russia, while Ukraine finalizes its announced counteroffensive
The drone attack on Russian soil, the biggest since Putin sent the army into Ukraine 15 months ago, comes as the world is expecting the Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Kyiv has been announcing a Western-backed counterattack for months to drive Russian troops out of Ukrainian territory seized by Moscow. The latest Ukrainian initiatives, such as the raid a week ago in the Belgorod oblast or these attacks, could be partly diversionary maneuvers while they finalize their plans.
The drone attack affected at least three buildings in the Russian capital. “Some apartments have broken window panes,” a witness was quoted as saying by the Tass agency.
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Russian lawmaker Alexander Jinshtein said three drones were shot down near the exclusive Rubliovka neighborhood, home to the political and business elite and where Putin has his residence.
The newspaper RBK He cited sources assuring that the drones were home-made, equipped with low-power explosives, perhaps new models with which the Ukrainian military tries to reach long-distance targets bypassing Russian defenses. Moscow is 520 kilometers from the nearest Ukrainian border. The anti-aircraft defense shot down all the attacking drones, a total of eight, according to the Defense Ministry.
Baza, a Telegram channel to which ties to the Russian intelligence services are attributed, assured that more than 25 drones participated in the attack.
Sources close to Russian intelligence indicate that more than 25 drones participated in the attack
In the early hours of May 3, two drones reached the very grounds of the Kremlin, without causing damage or injuries. Putin’s office said it was “a terrorist act and an assassination attempt on the president” by the “Kyiv regime.”
In Moscow, yesterday’s attack may serve as a proxy to ask the Russians for unity around the official idea that the country is waging an existential war against a West that uses Ukraine to “destroy Russia.” Deputy Maxim Ivanov said: “Either defeat the enemy as a single fist with our Motherland or the indelible shame of cowardice, collaboration and betrayal will engulf your family.”
