Although in the 15 months since the start of the Russian invasion, hostilities have mainly taken place on the territory of Ukraine, Russian border regions such as Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk have come under fire and sabotage by the enemy, keeping their inhabitants in a state of constant tension. On May 3, even the Kremlin was attacked by drones, but there were no casualties or significant damage. But what happened yesterday early in the morning surpassed all precedents. It was the first day when it could be said that the war had reached the Russian capital itself.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said the Ukrainians launched eight drones into the Moscow suburbs, but Russian air defenses shot down four of them, and the remaining three were targeted by electronic warfare, resulting in no deaths or serious injuries. Two people received shrapnel wounds, and some residential buildings were evacuated as a precaution.

Despite limited damage, the psychological impact of the attack cannot be underestimated, as some of Moscow’s wealthiest suburbs, home to Russia’s elite, including Vladimir Putin, were affected. The Russian President, as usual, went to the Kremlin yesterday morning, where he was informed of the incident, according to his office. He later accused Kyiv of deliberately seeking to cause civilian casualties and tried to reassure his compatriots by saying that Russian air defense would be strengthened. At the same time, he said that the Russian army managed to strike at the military intelligence headquarters of Ukraine. For its part, the Foreign Ministry warned that Russia “has every right to respond in the strongest possible way” to the attack it received.

Drone attack on one of the richest suburbs of the Russian capital.

In Kyiv, presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak denied his country’s direct involvement in the attack on Moscow, although he did not hesitate to add that we “watched with satisfaction” the incident. Ukraine has also denied responsibility for the previous attack on the Kremlin, although US intelligence concluded, based on wiretapping, that it orchestrated it.

Earlier, Russia carried out its 17th series of bombings against Kyiv in May, killing four people and injuring dozens. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared reassuring in his latest video, saying that the U.S. Patriot defense missiles supplied to his country have proven to be 100 percent effective against enemy drones and missiles.

Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishutin said yesterday that 1.5 million citizens of the Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions – regions of Ukraine controlled mostly by the Russian military – received Russian passports. Finally, the Russian Interior Ministry put US Senator Lindsey Graham on a wanted list by the Russian state, who, speaking on Ukrainian television, said that “Russians are dying” and that US support for Ukraine was “the best investment we have ever made.”

Source: REUTERS, AP.