Ukraine drones hit Moscow on Day 3 of Russian blitz on Kyiv
The Russian Defense Ministry said a “terror attack” on Tuesday, May 30, was staged by eight Ukrainian drones, damaging residential towers and prompting evacuations but no deaths. Russian forces were said to have intercepted all the drones – three “suppressed by electronic measures” and five shot down by Pantsir-S missiles. US intelligence officials said one of Ukraine’s special intelligence units probably orchestrated the drone attack. No one has claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s explosions or those at the Kremlin earlier this month.
Missile strikes that shook the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Tuesday night, the third in a row, killed at least one person. Ukrainian officials reported that more than 50 buildings and vehicles were damaged in Kyiv’s suburbs by falling debris but also that more than 20 out of 31 Russian drones had been destroyed by air defense systems in the course of the three-night Russian missile assault on Kyiv. All the drones were of Shahed-31 attack UAVs made in Iran and acquired by Moscow in an attempt to tip the scales of its war on Ukraine.
The reciprocal kamikaze drone attacks on the warring parties’ capitals mark a new stage in the conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin can hardly afford to let two attacks on Moscow go unanswered and is likely preparing a significant response.