He accused NATO of deceiving Russia by promising not to expand eastward.

Putin: Ukraine attacked Moscow with marches because we destroyed the headquarters of its military intelligence

Scene of explosion in the Russian capital Moscow and authorities accuse Ukraine. Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Ukrainian drone attack on Russian civilian facilities, yesterday morning, is a response to the destruction by Russian forces of the Ukrainian intelligence headquarters two days ago, and accused NATO of deceiving Russia, promising not to expand eastward, but tried to annex Ukraine.

The Russian president's statement yesterday came in response to the drone attack that took place yesterday, and affected civilian facilities in the capital, Moscow.

"We have already talked about the possibility of striking Ukrainian decision-making centers, which of course include the headquarters of Ukrainian military intelligence, which was targeted by our forces two or three days ago," the president said.

Putin explained that "Kiev forces are unable to hit Russian military targets, so they resort to intimidating the Russian people, by hitting civilian targets."

He added that Russian air defense systems in the capital, Moscow, worked normally during the attack of Ukrainian drones, and were able to shoot them all down.

"We are concerned about attempts to push Russia to respond in the same Ukrainian way."

Putin noted that Ukraine "has been led in recent years by people connected to the West, who have established an anti-Russian regime," adding that "NATO deceived Russia with its promise not to expand eastward, and tried to annex Ukraine. Ukraine gradually began to follow the path of NATO, an anti-Russian organization."

Earlier yesterday, the Russian Foreign Ministry denounced the attempts of Ukrainian forces to launch "terrorist" attacks against Russia, and said in a statement yesterday that the attacks that Kiev tried to carry out, directed exclusively against the civilian population, in order to spread panic.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that "Kiev tried (Tuesday) to launch a terrorist attack with drones on facilities in the city of Moscow. Eight drones took part in the attack, and all drones were destroyed."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "It is quite clear that we are talking about a response from the Kiev regime to our very effective strikes on one of its leadership positions."

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said two people were slightly injured in the attack at dawn yesterday, which also caused "minor damage to several buildings."

Peskov noted that President Putin "directly" followed the developments thanks to "the Ministry of Defense, the mayor of Moscow, the governor of the Moscow region and the Ministry of Emergency Situations."

The attack on Moscow comes as attacks on Russian territory have increased, including an armed incursion into the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, last week. Kiev has not claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.

In contrast, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak stressed yesterday that Ukraine is "not directly linked" to the drone attack on Moscow.

The Ukrainian Air Force said via Telegram: "Russian forces attacked Ukraine with 31 Iranian-made Shahid-136/131 drones, 29 of which were shot down, the vast majority of them near the capital and over Kiev."