The Russian Invasion

Vladimir Putin/people look up at the residential buildings hit by the drone attack. TT  

 

Russian invasionRussian reactions  

Kremlin: Putin was briefed in real time - to address the nation  

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin was immediately informed of the drone attacks on the Moscow area on Tuesday morning, the Kremlin said. 

 

- He received information in real time from the Ministry of Defense, the Mayor of Moscow, the Governor of the Moscow Region and the Ministry of Rescue, said Kremlin spokesman Dimitriy Peskov according to international news agencies.  

 

He also states that Putin will address the nation after the attack on the capital. According to the Kremlin, however, there is no threat to Moscow's residents.  

 

Russia has singled out Ukraine for having carried out the attack, which is denied by the Ukrainian side. However, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi's adviser Mychajlo Podoljak has said that Kyiv welcomes the attacks and "predicts more".  

 

The drone strikes followed a wave of massive Russian attacks on Kyiv. 

 

One of the damaged buildings in Moscow/several videos on social media are said to show the drone attack - "it's flying over me, straight at me," says a man in the clip. AP/Twitter 

 

Kremlin accuses Ukraine of drone attacks on residential buildings  

 

Several buildings have been damaged in a drone attack on Moscow, the city's mayor Sergei Sobyanin says according to Reuters.  

 

According to the statement, the attack should have only caused minor damage to two residential buildings, both of which have been evacuated. No one is reported to have been injured. 

 

The BBC's Russia editor Steve Rosenberg heard explosions in Moscow during the morning and writes on Twitter that his "window shook". 

 

"It's the first time my morning has started this way."  

 

Russia accuses Kyiv of the drone attack and calls it a "terrorist attack". Ukraine has not commented on the incident.  

 

According to the Wall Street Journal, it is the first attack on civilian areas deep inside Russia since Russia launched the large-scale invasion a year ago. 

 

The BBC's sources state that more than ten drones were shot down in the Moscow region.  

 

At the same time, the Russian attacks on Kyiv have continued. In the morning, the third wave of attacks was carried out in a day.  

 

 

The Russian Invasion|The Battles  

Ukraine denies - but looks "with pleasure" at the attacks  

 

Ukraine denies Russia's accusations that it carried out drone attacks against Moscow on Tuesday morning. Presidential adviser Mychajlo Podoljak appeared on a Ukrainian television morning program and was asked about the incident. 

 

- We have nothing directly to do with this, he said, adding that Kyiv "views the attacks with pleasure" and hopes for more. 

 

He also joked that some of the drones that Russia attacked Ukraine with may have decided to "turn back".  

 

Yesterday, Ukrainian military chief Kyrylo Budanov warned of a Ukrainian response to the Russian attack wave. 

 

- Those who tried to scare us [...] should be made to repent.  

 

There is no independent confirmation that Ukraine carried out the attack. There have previously been warnings about so-called false flag attacks from the Russian side.

 

 

 

Russian invasionVoices about the war 

Analyst: Ukraine "played with fire" if they attacked  

 

Joakim Paasikivi, lieutenant colonel and strategy teacher at the Defense Academy, believes that Ukraine was behind this morning's drone attack on Moscow. 

 

- Then there is the question of which actor. Now that there are so many drones, the reasonable assumption is that the Ukrainian intelligence service is involved, he tells TV4 Nyheterna.  

 

Hugo von Essen, analyst at the Center for Eastern European Studies, considers it more likely that Russian saboteurs in Russia are behind it. These have implicit, but not direct, support from Ukraine.  

 

Sky News has spoken to defense analyst Michael Clarke who says Ukraine is "playing with fire" if it is found to be behind the attacks. The Russian narrative that Ukraine is trying to destroy Russia, while not true, may gain traction and cause concern among Kyiv's allies in the West. 

 

- It risks creating a crack.