Tuesday’s drone attack on Moscow exposed Russian defense vulnerabilities and opened the Russian military up to criticism as attacks on Russian territory increase ahead of the expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Summary
Tuesday’s drone attack on Moscow exposed Russian defense vulnerabilities and opened the Russian military up to criticism as attacks on Russian territory increase ahead of the expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.
- The attack only caused light damage to three apartment buildings, but marked the first strike on the Russian capital in 15 months of war.
- Eight drones were allegedly used in the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have shot down five and to have jammed the other three.
- Ukraine has denied responsibility for the done attack, and there’s no evidence US-made drones were used in the attack.
- Nevertheless, the Biden administration announced a new $300 million aid package for Ukraine that will include more munitions for drones, so this may not be the last drone attack on the Russian capital.
- Russia has continued its drone assault on Kyiv in the wake of the attack on Moscow.
- The Ukrainian capital has come under attack for three consecutive nights from an assortment of kamikaze drones. At least one person was killed and three were injured.
- The New York Times said the attack brought the war “closer to home” for many Russian civilians. The Times quoted a Russian military blogger, Mikhail Zvinchuk, who said, ““If the goal was to stress the population, then the very fact that drones have appeared in the skies over Moscow has contributed to that.”
- While the Russian interior ministry has issued arrest warrants for top Ukrainian officials (see below), the head of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group has called for prosecutor to investigate the “crimes” of Russia’s own defense officials, per The Guardian. Yevgeny Prigozhin called for prosecutors to investigate the preparations for the invasion of Ukraine and arrest top leaders for sabotaging the offensive with their incompetence.
- CNN noted the attack on Moscow is just part of a broader Ukrainian campaign against targets within Russia. On Wednesday, “a “massive” shelling attack injured four people in Belgorod and preliminary information indicated a drone crashed and sparked a fire at an oil refinery further south. Eight apartment buildings, four homes, a school and two administrative buildings were damaged during the shelling” in the border region of Belgorod.
- Fox News reported the governor of Moscow region claimed that several drones were shot down on the way to Moscow, although it’s not clear whether they are included in the 8-drone total that the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have shot down.
- According to the New York Post, the Russian Interior Ministry issued arrest warrants for top Ukrainian military commanders for the drone attack on Moscow. The Interior Ministry put Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi and Ukrainian ground commander Oleksandr Syrskyi on its “wanted” list.
- National Review reported: “The novelty of the strike on Moscow has led Russian legislators to demand the government take new precautions to protect city residents. “The sabotage and terrorist attacks of Ukraine will only increase,” Alexander Khinshtein, a parliamentarian from the ruling United Russia party, said after the attack. “It is necessary to radically strengthen defense and security measures, especially in terms of countering drones.””
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© Dominic Moore, 2023
