Pointing out Ukraine as behind… “A clear act of terrorism”
Foreign Ministry “harsh response” Chechen leader “will take revenge”
Office of the President of Ukraine Denies Intervention… air force is silent
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of being behind the drone attack on the capital Moscow on the 30th (local time), accusing it of “an attempt to scare the Russian people.”
According to foreign media such as TASS and the BBC, President Putin said, “The main goal of this attack is to scare Russian citizens,” and criticized it as “a clear sign of terrorist activity in Ukraine.”
“Russia is using high-precision, long-range weapons to attack Ukraine’s military infrastructure or ammunition depots, but Ukraine has targeted residential buildings,” Putin said. At the same time, he confirmed, “(Russia) bombed the Ukrainian military intelligence headquarters two or three days ago.”
Putin also warned of retaliatory strikes against Ukraine. “They (Ukraine) are provoking us to ‘mirror-like behavior’,” he said. “Let’s see what we can do.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry also issued a statement saying, “It appears that the attack was aimed at civilians in order to instill fear in Russian citizens.”
“We will soon see what revenge is literally in the (Ukrainian) special operations zone,” threatened Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov via Telegram.
Ukraine, however, denied responsibility.
Mikhailo Podolyak, an aide to the Ukrainian presidency, said Ukraine did not directly intervene, but watched the incident “with pleasure”.
An Air Force spokesperson, who maintains strategic ambiguity over the attack on Russian territory, declined to comment, the New York Times reported.
An attack drone flew into Moscow this morning, local time, and destroyed apartment buildings. Areas where many Russian elites live, including President Putin’s official residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow, Deputy Chairman of the National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, were also targeted.
“All eight drones were destroyed,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said. “Three of them were suppressed by electronic warfare and lost control and deviated from their intended target. Five were shot down by Panchir-S surface-to-air missiles.”
Prior to this, earlier this month, two drones flew into the Kremlin Palace, where President Putin’s office is located, and were shot down by air defense networks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied any involvement.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.