Following the drone strikes in Moscow, Russia has threatened Ukraine with retaliatory strikes. In addition to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, who accused Kiev of terror and announced a reaction, his close confidant Ramzan Kadyrov swore revenge: The leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya in the North Caucasus called for the imposition of martial law in Russia in order to take tougher action against Ukraine. Ukraine, which has repeatedly been attacked by Russia, had denied direct responsibility for the attacks against Moscow.
"We will soon show in the zone of the special military operation what revenge is in the whole sense of the word," Kadyrov wrote in his blog on the Telegram news channel. Once again, he also threatened Western Europe with Russian attacks, Russia could knock on the doors of Germany or Poland, for example, he said.
While Moscow has only recently been the scene of such drone attacks, regions close to the border with Ukraine in particular have been reporting attacks with artillery and drones from the neighboring country for some time. The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkiv, reported new shelling of the region from the Ukrainian side on Tuesday evening. There is one dead and one injured.
In the Russian capital, the air defense had shot down several drones on Tuesday morning. According to the authorities, several houses were damaged and two people were injured. Where the drones came from remained unclear. Already at the beginning of May, a drone attack over the Kremlin had been repelled. Kremlin chief Putin praised the work of air defense, but also said that it needs to become denser and better.
White House: Do not support attacks inside Russia
The U.S. government reiterated after the drone strikes on Moscow that it does not support any attacks inside Russia. "We have clearly expressed ourselves to the Ukrainians not only publicly, but also privately, but we do not want to get involved in hypotheses," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in Washington. Information is currently being collected to find out exactly what happened. At the same time, she made it clear: "We do not support attacks inside Russia. Period."
On the other hand, according to British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, Ukraine has the right to attack targets on Russian territory for the purpose of self-defense. "Legitimate military targets outside its own border are part of Ukraine's right to self-defense," Cleverly said at a press conference with his Estonian counterpart Margus Tsahkna in Estonia's capital Tallinn on Tuesday. Cleverly did not want to comment on the drones that fell on Moscow.
Zelensky praises Chancellor Scholz's determination
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid tribute to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) for his "determination" in supporting his country attacked by Russia. During a phone call on Tuesday, he thanked Scholz for the air defense systems supplied by Germany that saved the lives of Ukrainians, Zelensky said in his evening video message. "And I thank Olaf, Mr. Chancellor, for his personal determination, which in many ways becomes the destiny for the whole of Europe."