WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine attacks Moscow in one of largest ever drone strikes on Russian capital

Ukraine attacked Moscow on Wednesday with at least 11 drones that were shot down by air defences in what Russian officials called one of the biggest drone strikes on the capital since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.

The war, largely a grinding artillery and drone battle across the fields, forests and villages of eastern Ukraine, escalated on Aug. 6 when Ukraine sent thousands of soldiers over the border into Russia's western Kursk region.

For months, Ukraine has also fought an increasingly damaging drone war against the refineries and airfields of Russia, the world's second largest oil exporter, though major drone attacks on the Moscow region - with a population of over 21 million - have been rarer.

Russia's defence ministry said its air defences destroyed a total of 45 drones over Russian territory, including 11 over the Moscow region, 23 over the border region of Bryansk, six over the Belgorod region, three over the Kaluga region and two over the Kursk region.

Some of the drones were shot down over the city of Podolsk, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. The city in the Moscow region is some 38 km (24 miles) south of the Kremlin.

"This is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow using drones ever," Sobyanin said on the Telegram messaging app in the early hours of Wednesday. "The layered defence of Moscow that was created made it possible to successfully repel all the attacks from the enemy UAVs."

Along Moscow's boulevards, the cafes, restaurants and shops of the capital - which has been carefully insulated from the war - were crowded with little sign of concern, while President Vladimir Putin met Chinese premier Li Qiang in the Kremlin.

Two Russian citizens who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said the foiled drone attack simply showed how well defended Moscow now was, and that Ukraine was "playing with fire" by attacking Russia both in Kursk and in Moscow.

Russia meanwhile is advancing in eastern Ukraine, where it controls about 18% of the territory, and battling to repel Ukraine's incursion into the Kursk region, the biggest foreign attack on Russian territory since World War Two.

Russian media showed unverified footage of drones whirring over the dawn sky of the Moscow region and then being shot down in a ball of flame by air defences.

Moscow's airports, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky, limited flights for four hours but restarted normal operations from 0330 GMT, Russia's aviation watchdog said.

Sobyanin said that according to preliminary information, there were no injuries or damage reported in the aftermath of the attacks. There were also no casualties or damage reported following the attack on Bryansk in Russia's southwest, the governor of the region, Alexander Bogomaz, wrote on Telegram.

Russia's RIA state news agency reported that two drones were destroyed over the Tula region, which borders the Moscow region to its north. Vasily Golubev, governor of the Rostov region in Russia's southwest, said air defence forces destroyed a Ukraine-launched missile over the region, with no injuries reported.

The Russian defence ministry did not mention either Tula or Rostov in its statement listing destroyed Ukrainian air weapons. Ukraine's military said on Wednesday it overnight struck an S-300 anti-aircraft missile systembased in the Rostov region.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

The drone attack on Moscow was on a par with a May 2023 attack when at least eight droneswere destroyed over the capital, a strike Putin said was a Ukrainian attempt to scare and provoke Russia.

In Kursk, Russian war bloggers said intense battles were ongoing along the front in the region where Ukraine has carved out at least 450 square km (175 square miles) of Russian territory.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russia saved from ‘talks trap’ – Medvedev

Kiev’s decision to launch an offensive on Russian soil has benefited Moscow, since it can no longer be pressured to compromise for the sake of peace, former president Dmitry Medvedev has suggested.

Ukrainian troops occupied some border areas in Kursk Region this month in a move that the country’s leadership claims would strengthen its position in eventual peace talks. However, President Vladimir Putin has ruled out negotiations with Kiev following the incursion, accusing Ukraine of targeting Russian civilians during the attack.

Medvedev, who serves as deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, argued that Russia should take a more hardline position in response to the incursion.

”In my view, there was a theoretical threat of a talks trap, which our nation could fall into under certain circumstances. That is, unnecessary early peace negotiations, offered by the international community and imposed on the Kiev regime,” he wrote on social media on Wednesday.

”After the neo-Nazis committed an act of terrorism in Kursk Region, every piece got into its place,” he added. “Everyone realizes that there can be NO TALKS BEFORE THE ENEMY IS FULLY DEFEATED!”

Medvedev lashed out specifically at Britain and its former prime minister Boris Johnson, who enthusiastically welcomed Kiev’s move. The UK has hurt Ukraine a lot with its support, since it led to unnecessary destruction and loss of life, Medvedev said.

Before the offensive started, Moscow was willing to order a ceasefire in exchange for Kiev renouncing its aspirations for NATO membership and pulling troops out of all territories claimed by Russia.

Politico reported on Monday that the Ukrainian government wanted to have mediated, indirect talks with Russia similar to those that resulted in the Black Sea grain initiative, an arrangement that provided safe passage to certain merchant ships sailing to or from Ukrainian ports. The 2022 deal was technically two separate agreements that Russia and Ukraine signed with Türkiye and the UN, but not with each other.

Ukrainian officials have told the outlet that they are hoping for the same model and expect Russia to accept an outcome based on the so-called ‘peace formula’ penned by the country’s leader Vladimir Zelensky in 2022. Moscow has rejected his proposal from the start, calling it a de facto demand for capitulation that is detached from reality.

Reuters/RT