The Russian government said it “reserves the right to take the toughest possible measures in response to terrorist attacks by the Kiev regime” after a hail of drones hit at least three residential buildings in Moscow, causing “minor” damage and two not – caused serious injuries. . Ukrainian authorities deny responsibility for the attack, which comes on the third day of their own capital being targeted by these unmanned aerial vehicles.
“This morning, the Kiev regime launched a terrorist drone attack on the city of Moscow. Eight drone-like devices were used in the attack. All enemy drones were shot down. Three of them were suppressed with electronic warfare, lost control and were diverted. away from intended targets Another five unmanned aerial vehicles [UAV, na sigla em inglês] were shot down by the Pantsir-S SAM system in the Moscow region,” Russian authorities reported in Telegram. However, there is information that more than 25 drones were involved in the attack.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed of the attack early in the morning and responded on television. He claimed that Ukraine’s goal is to “intimidate” Russian citizens and called the attacks a “clear sign” of Kiev’s “terrorist activities”. “They provoke us to react in the same way. Let’s see what we can do,” Putin defended. The president also warned Ukrainians, who he says are also targets of government terror in Kiev, that it is “the incumbent authorities who are forcing the situation”.
According to information from the Russia Today website, Putin accused Kiev of targeting “residential buildings” in Russia, contrary to Moscow saying it only hits military targets with “highly accurate” weapons. The president also claimed that he had hit the headquarters of the Ukrainian military secret services over the weekend – and that yesterday’s attack was in retaliation. Regarding the response of Moscow’s defense system, he admitted that there is room for improvement.
At the beginning of the month, the Kremlin itself was targeted by the drones in another attack that the Russians attributed to the Ukrainians and which they also denied. Moscow then spoke of an assassination attempt on Putin, which was not on the scene. According to AFP, the remains of one of the drones were found on the outskirts of the capital, 15 kilometers from Novo-Ogaryovo, the president’s residence. The affected buildings are in the wealthiest districts of Moscow.
The only response from the Ukrainian side to yesterday’s attack came from Mykhailo Polodyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky. On Twitter, he spoke of a “drone protest” refusing to attack Ukrainian civilians and “returning with an explosive protest” to the perpetrators of “air terror” who are “entrenched in Moscow”. And he claims that “even artificial intelligence is already smarter and more insightful than the Russian military and political leadership…” According to Reuters, he said on a YouTube channel (Breakfast Show) about the attack: “Of course we are happy to see and we expect an increase in the number of attacks, but of course we have nothing directly to do with this.”
At least one of the drones used in the attack is a UJ-22 made in Ukraine. It is estimated to have the capacity to fly 800 kilometers, with Moscow just 450 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Russian officials claim Western support is “pushing” Kyiv toward “increasingly fearless” behavior, including “terrorism”. The US said it was still investigating the Moscow incident, with a State Department spokesperson reiterating that Washington does not support attacks in Russia. “We have focused on providing Ukraine with the necessary equipment and training to regain its own sovereign territory,” the spokesman said. But he recalled that “Russia has started this war against Ukraine for no reason” and that it will stop at any moment. may end up “withdrawing his troops instead. launching brutal attacks on Ukrainian cities and people every day”.
Kiev has suffered drone strikes for a third consecutive day, with the Ukrainian capital bombed on at least 17 days out of 31 in May. At least one person was killed and three injured when the wreckage of a Russian drone reportedly destroyed by Ukrainian defenses hit a residential building, causing a fire. On Monday, the attack was different because it happened during the day.
“In the past 24 hours, the enemy has already carried out three attacks. In addition, the enemy is constantly changing weapons before the attack, after combining missiles with drones, then ballistically, the aggressor used UAVs exclusively,” the military administration said. of the city of Kyiv.
Source: DN
