Vladimir Putin has urgently recalled frontline defense systems to help fortify Moscow after a run of humiliating Ukrainian drone strikes on the Russian capital.
The 73-year-old president has now had the gun-and-missile-launcher system set atop a massive oil refinery in the city, which provides for up to 40 percent of the capital’s fuel needs and, notably, sits less than 10 miles from his offices at the Kremlin, according to The Telegraph.
His scramble to fortify Moscow follows a barrage of drone strikes on June 18—the largest of the war so far to hit the city—that reportedly ripped into the refinery and sent a silo cap spinning skyward.
Footage of the attack apparently suggests that another defensive launcher nearby, which had been installed to help guard the facility, may have mistakenly struck the refinery in friendly fire.
The breaches keep coming. Drone waves grounded all four of Moscow’s major airports on Monday.
Last month, one drone slipped through and blew up against a luxury apartment block four miles from the Kremlin.
The humiliations have also spread beyond the skies. On Sunday, Ukrainian hackers seized the Telegram account of Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, 68, posting “Moscow will burn” and linking to a drone fundraiser for Kyiv.
Putin has stayed silent on the strikes, even as anxiety builds at home. Volodymyr Zelensky, 48, cast it as a sign of decline on Friday.
“Putin is becoming weaker. He is weakening politically, on the battlefield and physically,” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president added that his Russian counterpart could well respond to threats against Moscow by intensifying attacks on Ukrainian cities.
“This is why he may intensify strikes against us, against our people, with missiles and drones,” Zelensky added.
