For the residents of Kyiv, attacks with drones and missiles were part of everyday life in May. On average, Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital every other day in the month that is coming to an end. Missiles from Russia have also hit other Ukrainian cities during this time. It hit hospitals, apartment blocks, port facilities. Among the Ukrainian civilian population, there were dead and injured – as in hundreds of Russian attacks on civilian targets before
From what we know so far, nothing comparably bad happened in the drone attacks on Moscow on Tuesday morning. According to the official Russian account, two people were slightly injured, the property damage remained minor.
Calm in the Kremlin? Probably not
It is currently difficult to estimate the extent of the political damage to the Russian regime. But it is obvious that it is much more important than the material damage. As was the case after the alleged drone attack on the Moscow Kremlin in early May and the incursion of armed Russian fighters into the Belgorod region last week, Russian propaganda is now finding it difficult to explain what happened.
These events are signs of their own weakness, which are difficult to use for a patriotic mobilization of the population. So, on Tuesday, those in power – including President Vladimir Putin himself – and their mouthpieces acted as if nothing special had happened. It is doubtful that the same calm reigns behind closed doors in Moscow.
For the Ukrainian leadership, such drone strikes carry the risk of stirring up suspicion among its allies that Western weapons could be used directly against Russian territory, especially since - unlike in previous attacks - no militarily important installations were hit. But presumably it is worth the uncertainty that is being brought to Russia.