MOSCOW – The Kremlin war has become a major concern for many Russians.
Since more than 15-months, the focus of the conflict has been on the battlefields and battered city in Ukraine. Life for millions living across the border, however, continued to be normal. The drone attack on Tuesday, the first to target civilian areas in Moscow since the beginning of the war, brought the realities of the conflict into the Russian capital.
While President Vladimir Putin, his officials, and the media tried to downplay the attack that caused minor damage, many Moscow residents said they were shaken by it and worried about what may come next. Influential war voices have also renewed their criticisms of the Kremlin following a series of events that exposed Russia’s defenses, and indicated the war is increasingly being fought deep within Russia.
Anatoly said, “I feel unsafe,” refusing to reveal his last name.
It is difficult to gauge public opinion in Russia because many people are afraid to express their opinions or reveal their names to foreign media. This is due to an unprecedented crackdown on any criticism and dissent of the “special military operations” that the Kremlin has in Ukraine.
Anatoly said that despite Putin’s praise of their work, he wasn’t so sure about its effectiveness. He said that if they flew even to Red Square they would be here more, referring the recent drone strike on the Kremlin.
Moscow has again accused Kyiv of the incident that occurred on Tuesday, but Ukraine says it is not directly responsible. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, eight drones crashed over the capital, causing some damage to residential buildings and two minor injuries.
Anatoly spoke on Leninsky Prospekt in southwest Moscow, which he’s called home for the past 40 years. He would not have been able to wake up the night before and see a drone crash into his neighbor’s balcony.
There was no panic visible in the surrounding area. Some people stopped to look at the police cordon surrounding the building as they enjoyed the sunshine.
Marina, 38, her son Kolya, 8, who live in the area for almost a decade said that the incident left them with “unpleasant emotions.”
Marina, who didn’t want to be identified by her last name for fear of being outspoken, said: “Everything just began.” “I don’t know who could feel secure right now.”
Svetlana is another local resident, who also fears sharing her last name. She was on a morning dog walk when she saw the emergency services arrive and assumed that there was an fire. She learned later that a drone hit one of buildings in her neighborhood.
The 61-year old said, “It was a nasty surprise.” “A terrible inconvenience. “Tragic” is what one could say. “You wouldn’t want this to happen to anyone and you don’t know what will come next.”
Russian officials and propagandists have largely ignored the drone attack. Many of the Kremlin’s most outspoken hawks chose to refrain from commenting on social media, instead of rushing to call for a escalation.
Margarita Simonyan of the Russian State Broadcasting RT was one.
She added that the streets of central Moscow were business as usual. She warned that “it will happen again” and asked how the authorities in Moscow will react next time, if more drones are launched into the capital.
Putin said that in a short statement made much later on Tuesday, the air defense works were satisfactory and that it was understood how to secure the skies of the capital going forward.
Russia has deployed drones against Ukrainian cities for months but has recently faced a growing wave of attacks within its own borders.
Aleksandr Kazakov / Sipa USA via AP
Some of Russia’s most influential military bloggers have questioned the Kremlin’s narrative that there is nothing to see here. They claim the drone strikes are part of an Ukrainian psychological warfare campaign designed to intimidate Russian citizens — and it may be working.
The Telegram channel Rybar , which is known for its war-promoting position, wrote shortly after the attacks to its 1.1million followers.
In her analysis, Tatiana Stanovaya , the founder and director of R.Politik, a political analysis firm, and a nonresident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace , wrote that the “inert response” of Putin’s officials gives the impression that the Russian leadership doesn’t understand the dangers of the current situation.
She said that Putin was more worried about creating alarm, which could force the Kremlin into a response with limited options and resources, than he was of appearing weak. She added that Putin does not believe the next Ukrainian attack will cause dissatisfaction in Russian society, no matter how bold it may be.
Some analysts, despite growing criticism from the public, agreed with this calculus. They doubted that the attack would have any serious impact on Russian public support for Putin or the war.
The Russian media is referring to the attack as a Ukrainian provocation, despite the fact that it caused little damage and was of no importance for the majority of Russians.
He said that “single incidents like this won’t change Russian politics in a significant way.” What matters most are the larger trends such as the situation in Ukraine and the number of Russian military casualties.
Tatyana Chistikova reported live from Moscow and Yuliya Talmazan reports from London.
