The Kremlin threatened major retaliation against Kyiv and hinted it would ramp up assaults on Ukrainian civilians after a failed drone attack Monday targeted the Russian Defense Ministry headquarters in Moscow, the latest in a string of attempted strikes on the Russian homeland.
Ukrainian authorities did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack, though regional media reports suggested that Kyiv likely was involved and some Ukrainian officials seemed to indicate on social media that their country was behind the strikes. It’s the second time this month that drones have tried to hit targets in Moscow. Though in each case, the unmanned aircraft appear to have failed to hit their intended targets.
With President Vladimir Putin already on the defensive over blowback from the 15-month-old invasion of Ukraine, Russian officials responded to Monday’s events with fury. Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said in a social media post that the Russian side should increase its attacks on “non-standard targets” outside of wartime norms. He did not explicitly call for increased targeting of Ukrainian civilian targets, but his comments strongly suggest such an approach.
“Our enemy has been unable to achieve success in the course of its counteroffensive, which means that it will seek victories in the information field, no matter how overhyped and irrational,” Mr. Medvedev said, according to his country’s state-run Tass News Agency. “This is why the [Ukrainians] are increasingly choosing peaceful civilian targets for their despicable attacks. Everyone must be ready for this … We also need to select non-standard targets for our strikes, not just storage sites, energy hubs and oil bases. Russia’s Foreign Ministry in a statement said reserves the right to take “tough retaliatory measures” in light of the most recent attacks.
Russia has long targeted major Ukrainian cities in the invasion, causing large numbers of civilian casualties.
Russian officials said that electronic warfare systems jammed the two drones and forced them to crash before they could hit their targets. But the aircraft seem to have come very close to reaching their destinations, one of which appears to have been Russia’s Ministry of Defense headquarters in the heart of Moscow.
Russian state-controlled media reported that one of the drones fell on the Komsomolsky highway just over 200 yards from the Defense Ministry building. A strike on that facility would have represented a major symbolic blow to the Russian military and might have killed or injured top military officials.
It also would have been the greatest demonstration to date of the Ukrainian military’s willingness and ability to take the fight to Russian soil.
The other drone appears to have struck an office building in southern Moscow, destroying several upper floors of the facility, according to media reports.
Kremlin officials acknowledged that they are ramping up security in and around the capital amid the recent attacks.
“Measures are being taken, a very intense daily 24-hour work is underway,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, referring to efforts to defend Moscow from attack.
Monday’s drone attacks came just weeks after a July 4 assault in which five drones were taken down by Russian air defenses on the outskirts of the city. In early May, two drones were shot down near the Kremlin.
Ukraine, which is under pressure from the U.S. and other Western nations against using imported weapons in offensive strikes on Russia proper, has not officially claimed responsibility for any of those assaults, though some officials have given strong indications of the nation’s involvement.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s digital transformation minister, said in social media posts Monday that the attacks show that Russia’s electronic warfare means and air defenses are “less and less able to protect the skies of the invaders.” He added that “there will be more of it” in the days and weeks to come, the Associated Press reporters.
The Ukrainska Pravda newspaper reported Monday that the operation was carried out by Ukrainian military intelligence, though those claims weren’t immediately verified by other media outlets.
For Russia, its capital city increasingly has felt the ripple effects of war.
Last month, it appeared as if Moscow would be the site of a battle between Russian forces and mercenary Wagner Group fighters. Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin led a brief mutiny against the Russian Defense Ministry and said he and his troops were headed to Moscow to force changes atop the government.
Russian forces prepared to defend the city, but Mr. Prigozhin ultimately struck a deal that ended the uprising before his men reached Moscow.
War raged elsewhere in the region on Monday. Russian officials accused the Ukrainian side of a drone attack on an ammunition depot in northern Crimea, a portion of Ukraine that Russia has controlled since 2015. Russia also has ramped up its attacks in Odesa, a key Ukrainian hub for grain exports.
Moscow last week pulled out of a key deal that allowed for the export of food from the region. Since then, Russian forces have increased assaults on the area. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres again implored Mr. Putin to revive the deal on Monday.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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