“Drone Attack on Moscow: Russia Blames Ukraine While Trying to Conceal Limited Capabilities”

Attack of drones on Moscow and Moscow region

The Russian Federation claims that on May 30, Ukraine launched a series of UAV strikes on Moscow, as Russian troops again attacked our country with Shahed drones.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation accused Ukraine of attacking Moscow with the help of 8 drones on the morning of May 30, saying that they shot down 5 drones, and suppressed 3 more with the help of electronic warfare systems.

However, Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov claimed that Ukraine had launched 32 drones, some of which were aimed at the prestigious Rublyovka district in the Moscow region.

According to a Russian independent publication, the drone mainly targeted areas near Putin’s residence in Novo-Ogaryovo and other elite areas of the Moscow region.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that several buildings in the Russian capital received minor damage, and Russian sources showed footage of a small explosion in the New Moscow area.

A Russian “military commissar” claimed that the UAVs flying over Moscow resembled Ukrainian attack drones.

Geolocation footage shows Russian forces shooting down drones identified as Ukrainian by OSINT in several different areas of Moscow and the Moscow region.

Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, denied that our country was directly involved in the drone strike, but predicted that the number of such attacks could increase in the future.

Russia failed to show “success” in the war with air strikes on Ukraine

The Institute for the Study of War notes that the recent complaints of Russian bloggers about the alleged lack of escalation by the Russian Federation in response to the raid in the Belgorod region and the drone raid in the Moscow region “do not do merit” to the occupiers on the unprecedented scale of their air campaign against Kiev.

Many bloggers and individuals, including former Russian officer Igor Girkin and Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, have repeatedly complained about the lack of a full-scale general and economic mobilization in the Russian Federation, which they say is the only possible measure capable of satisfying a wider protest in information space.

Putin hides the limited capabilities of the Russian Federation

According to the ISW report, Kremlin chief Putin is trying to downplay the drone attack on Moscow in order to “not reveal the limited capacity he has to retaliate against Ukraine.”

Putin said that Russian troops allegedly attacked the headquarters of Ukrainian military intelligence “two or three days ago,” and that the Russian Army continues to respond to “Ukraine’s war against Donbass” by striking Ukrainian “military infrastructure.”

Putin hinted that the drone strike on Moscow was Kyiv’s response to Russian strikes.

Putin’s emphasis on past and current missile strikes is likely an attempt to show that the Russian Federation is already actively retaliating and does not need to respond “to further Ukrainian provocations,” experts say.

“Putin has consistently responded to actual and perceived Ukrainian actions by ordering massive missile and drone campaigns, likely due to the inability of Russian troops to achieve any decisive results on the battlefield,” the publication says.

Key Findings

• The drone attack on Moscow caused a mixed reaction in the Russian information space.
• The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation is probably trying to hide the high losses of Russia in Ukraine by artificially inflating Ukrainian losses in the war.
• EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said that the Russian Federation will not negotiate, trying to win the war.
• Russian troops carried out limited ground attacks northeast of Kupyansk and northwest of Svatovo, and Russian sources claimed that the Rosarmiya launched a ground attack south of Kremennaya.
• The pace of Russian and Ukrainian offensive operations in the Bakhmut direction as of May 30 remains low.
• Russian troops made little progress against the backdrop of ongoing ground attacks on the Avdiivka-Donetsk line.
• Russian troops have not carried out confirmed ground attacks in the southern direction.
• Russian officials are creating local veteran support programs that seem to be aimed at advertising the benefits of military service in the Russian Federation.
• The Russian occupation “authorities” continue to deport Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation under the pretext of allegedly providing pediatric care.

Drone attack on Moscow on May 30

In Moscow on Tuesday, May 30, in the morning they announced a massive attack of drones. UAVs crashed into high-rise buildings in the capital of the Russian Federation, and also flew over the region. According to Russian media, 32 drones took part in the raid, of which 19 were allegedly shot down. But the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported only 8 UAVs.

After that, Russian dictator Putin praised the work of air defense, despite the drone attacks on Moscow and the Moscow region. The head of the Kremlin said that the Moscow authorities need to tighten the air defense in order to prevent further attacks.

Then the Russian media allegedly received instructions from the Putin administration to cover the drone attacks on Moscow and the Moscow region.

We add that the Ukrainian Air Force assures that the UAV attack on Moscow is the internal problems of the aggressor country, and there will be more of them.

About who can be behind the attack of drones, read in the material RBC-Ukraine.