Nicolas Tonev / Photo credit: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP 08:21, May 31, 2023

A dozen drones fell on Moscow on Tuesday, without causing much damage or casualties. But the attack is symbolic and puts pressure on Moscow, which wants to keep at all costs the idea that Ukraine remains only a special operation and convince the population that Russia remains a country at peace.

Moscow under pressure? In recent weeks, drone attacks on the Russian capital have been in the news. After a new drone salvo on Tuesday, the Kremlin accuses Ukraine of terrifying the Russian population, a sign that tension is rising among local authorities.

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It must be said that the starting area of the small drones used remains uncertain. On a city with an area of more than 2,500 square kilometers, they can only create little damage. Especially since the anti-aircraft system that protects the Russian capital is one of the most effective in the world. But this tactic has the merit of importing the reality of war to the more than 11 million Muscovites.

Russia, still a country at peace?

The Kremlin, which wants to keep the idea that the war in Ukraine remains a special operation, speaks of terrorist attacks in Kiev. Objective: not to leave in the minds of its population the idea of a hard-fought conflict. But after the attacks on the border regions on Russian territory, it becomes very difficult for Vladimir Putin to argue that the country lives in peace, at least in the legal sense of the term.

On Kiev's side, the desire to affirm the existence of an inter-state war and to demonstrate that Russian territory is not taboo, since it is that of the aggressor. Finally, Volodymyr Zelensky intends to complete the Russian anxiety, saying that the date of the offensive is recorded. Strategic and tactical thinking that puts the Kremlin in the position of the most difficult reaction to manage.