Vladimir Putin endured a fresh wave of attacks on the Russian capital, Moscow, as Ukraine ramps up its use of drones.
Several waves of drone strikes were reported from Monday night onward, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, with Russian air defenses also shooting down more than 60 drones en route to the capital, via The New York Times.
In total, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed it had downed 419 drones over Moscow and Crimea, the peninsula Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russia with drones as the war enters its fifth year. The strikes have focused on Russia’s oil refineries, which play a key role in funding the invasion, including a devastating large-scale June 18 attack that killed at least 17 people around Moscow.
On Tuesday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a drone strike—which he has dubbed “long-range sanctions”—had also targeted a satellite communications center in the Moscow region.
“This is a special satellite communications facility used, in particular, for reconnaissance and for coordinating the activity of Russia’s occupation contingent in Ukraine,” Zelensky posted on X.
“The distance from our state border to this facility is more than 500 kilometers,” he added. “Step by step, we are implementing our plan of long-range sanctions and making it as difficult as possible for the aggressor state to carry out its invasion operations against Ukraine and the occupation of our territories.”
This was the second time Ukraine had targeted Russia’s Dubna satellite communications center.
In an overnight address to the people of Ukraine, Zelensky said the country’s use of drones was “bringing the reality of the war back to Russia.”
“We are ensuring the results Ukraine needs so that the aggressor state cannot keep the war ‘somewhere over there,’” Zelensky said.
Putin has already had to admit that Ukraine’s drone strikes have been successful in disrupting Russia.
The attacks on oil refineries and other key targets are causing widespread fuel shortages across Russia, with long lines at gas stations becoming a regular occurrence.
“As for strikes against critical infrastructure in general, and energy infrastructure in particular, of course, these attacks on our infrastructure facilities create problems,” Putin said in an interview published by the Kremlin. “That’s obvious.”
“Right now we’re observing a certain shortage, but it’s not critical,” Putin added.
