The US is deeply concerned about reports that Russian air defenses have shot down two drones near Moscow a day after five UAVs hit Ukraine’s city of Sumy. The Pentagon suspects that these drones, launched from inside Russia rather than over the border in Ukraine, were aimed at striking high-rise buildings in the heart of Moscow. “This is international terrorism,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Tuesday. “Especially considering that the attacks were conducted by pro-Ukrainian mercenaries inside Russia, armed with weapons supplied by the West and purchased with Western funds.”
A source in Russia’s emergency services told state media that four incoming drones had been suppressed using electronic warfare in New Moscow, and another was “shot down” in the Kaluga region. The source added that there were no casualties as a result of the incident.
Earlier, Telegram channels linked to the Wagner private military company reported that a drone was shot down near the village of Valuevo in New Moscow. Residents in the area reportedly heard loud bangs and smelled petrol fumes. Emergency services reportedly received several calls about the drone attack. Some filmed the drone falling and smoke rising above the skyline.
An unidentified drone crashed on approach to the storage units of a military base in the Naro-Fominsk district, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of Moscow, local governor Andrei Vorobyov wrote on Telegram. According to an anonymous law enforcement source quoted by TASS, the village is home to the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division.
Two more drones were reportedly shot down in the region of Rublyovka, where oligarchs and other top officials live in luxurious gated communities. The area is also close to Putin’s Novo-Ogaryovo residence, where he spends most of his time. The Kremlin has not yet commented on the reports of drone strikes.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner and a man at the center of a bitter feud with Russia’s top military brass, was quick to comment on the reports. He accused the ministry of doing “absolutely nothing to modernize” the country’s drone defense systems.
Prigozhin’s rhetoric echoed that of the oligarchs who control the other major private military companies involved in the operations against Ukraine, who have publicly expressed frustration with the slow pace of improvements to their equipment and the failure to respond to repeated requests for more advanced weaponry.
Ukraine has long complained that it needs to be adequately supplied with the necessary hardware to defend against Russian aggression. Still, there are doubts that these new drones could have been bought from a foreign supplier as they appear very similar to commercial models. Ukraine has also complained that it has been unable to get the drones it needs from the US, which says it does not want them used in sabotage operations on its territory.
