Why Putin tries to reduce significance of the drone attack on Moscow

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is trying to downplay the importance of the drone attack on Moscow on May 30 in order not to reveal the limited capabilities of Russia to "reply" to Ukraine, to which the Kremlin attributes responsibility for the UAV raid.

These are the conclusions reached by analysts of the Institute for the Study of War in their recent report.

The Russian Ministry of Defense blamed Ukraine for Moscow's attack with eight drones on the morning of May 30, saying that they shot down five drones and suppressed three more with electronic warfare systems.

According to the ISW report, Kremlin chief Putin is trying to downplay the drone attack on Moscow “to avoid exposing the limited options he has to retaliate against Ukraine."

Putin stated that Russian troops allegedly struck Ukrainian military intelligence headquarters "two or three days ago," and that the Russian army continues to respond to Ukraine's "war against Donbas" by striking Ukrainian "military infrastructure."

Putin insinuated that the drone strike on Moscow was Kyiv’s response to Russian strikes.

Putin’s emphasis on past and ongoing missile strikes is likely an attempt to signal that Russia is already actively retaliating and does not need to respond to “further Ukrainian provocations”, experts said.

"Putin has consistently retaliated against genuine and purported Ukrainian actions by ordering massive missile and drone campaigns, likely due to Russian forces’ inability to achieve any decisive effects on the battlefield," the publication said.

Author – Anastasiya Glotova, 31/05/2023