Russian Fury Over Moscow Drone Strikes: ‘Terrorist Attack’

The Kremlin blamed Ukraine for a drone “terrorist attack” on Moscow that caused outrage among Russian elites, with President Vladimir Putin accusing Kyiv of attempting to provoke a mirror response from Moscow.

Putin told Russia’s State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) that he is concerned Tuesday morning’s drone attacks were an attempt by Ukraine to evoke a response from Russia. “They are provoking us into taking mirror actions. We will see what to do about it,” he said.

Moscow was targeted for the first time in a large-scale drone attack since the war in Ukraine began more than 15 months ago. Russia’s Defense Ministry accused Ukraine of staging a “terrorist attack” with at least eight drones causing minor damage. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said there were no serious injuries.

Ukraine has denied that it was responsible for the attacks.

The targets of the drone attack in Moscow included a residence of Putin and the mansions of his entourage on Rublyovka, reported the independent Russian Telegram channel “We can explain”, which analyzed where the drones were spotted.

Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was among those who took to social media to express outrage over the drone attack, although he took the opportunity to launch a tirade against Russia’s Defense Ministry. He has often criticized Russia’s military leadership, accusing officials of intentionally depriving his fighters of ammunition.

“Smelly scumbags! What are you doing?! Get your a***s up from the cabinets you’ve been put in to protect this country! You are the Ministry of Defense! You’ve done f*** all in order to advance! Why the f*** are you allowing the arrival of these UAVs to Moscow?!” Prigozhin said in an outraged audio message published on a Telegram page he owns.

“The fact that they fly to your home in Rublyovka, to f*** with that, let your houses burn. What are regular people meant to do when UAVs with explosives crash into their houses? As a citizen, I’m deeply outraged that these scumbags calmly sit on their fat a***s smeared with expensive creams. Hence, I believe that the people have the full right to ask them these questions, to these m****s.”

Former Russian commander Igor Girkin, a military blogger and self-described Russian nationalist, shared on his Telegram channel the opinion of a person who said Russian channels linked to the government are working to play down the impact of the Moscow drone attacks.

On Russia’s state TV channel Mesto Vstrechi, Konstantin Sivkov, described as a military expert, said the attacks on Moscow were “very positive” because they’ll help to mobilize Russian society against Ukraine.

“I believe that these strikes were very positive for us. For one simple reason, they will mobilize society. Because, yes, indeed our society will start to realize what conditions we find ourselves in,” said Sivkov.

“The strikes had zero [military] impact. But the socio-political impact is very serious. People will now understand that our enemy is very serious…that he could blow up the entrance to your block of flats.”

Russia meanwhile struck Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, with another wave of drone attacks on Monday night—the third wave of attacks on the city in the past 24 hours, officials said.

Newsweek has contacted the foreign ministries of Russia and Ukraine for comment via email.

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