Ukraine’s drone attack on Moscow and surrounding areas is “something to be remarked on”, our defence and security analyst Professor Michael Clarke says.
Kyiv is “launching drones in lots of places” and there is a fire at a refinery fire in Rostov targeted by Ukraine “which is still going on after four days”, he says.
“The Ukrainians are trying to worry the Russians as much as they can across the whole border to make the most of what they’re doing in Kursk,” says Prof Clarke.
“From the Ukrainian point of view they had the effect in Moscow of closing the airports for a while. And that brings home to the Russian people that this is war and you can’t insulate yourself from this.
“And that’s the message that the Ukrainians are trying to send out. They know most of these drones won’t get through but if one or two get through they score the point and they inconvenience ordinary Russians in Moscow who pretend this isn’t really happening.”
Asked how Russia is responding to Ukraine’s invasion of its territory, Prof Clarke said Moscow’s forces “are still at sixes and sevens over what is happening in the Kursk region in this incursion”.
He explains: “They don’t seem to have been able to sort out exactly who is in charge.”
Prof Clarke says there are “three different forces” on the ground in Kursk, and adds this is “one of the reasons why they’re not doing very well”.
He says: “So it’s apparent that 16 days after this incursion began the Russians are still struggling to create a coherent response… it’s partly because Putin operates a sort of medieval court in the Kremlin and when it’s struck with a crisis like this people just vie with each other to be closer to the king.”