Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Tuesday’s drone attack on Moscow and the surrounding region on “terrorist activity” and called it an attempt to “intimidate” ordinary Russians.
“The Kyiv regime has chosen... the path of attempting to intimidate Russian citizens and striking residential buildings,” the state-run TASS news agency quoted Putin as saying.
“We do not use the same means that are used by Ukrainian bigwigs. Another confirmation of this is the attack on civilian facilities in Moscow," Putin added.
Russia has been accused of numerous deadly attacks on civilian areas in Ukraine and other war crimes in the 15 months since it sent troops into its pro-Western neighbor.
Ukraine has denied involvement in Tuesday's drone attacks.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it downed eight drones over Moscow early Tuesday morning, while unconfirmed media reports said up to 32 drones were involved in the attack. No serious casualties were reported.
One of the drones was reportedly shot down just a few kilometers from Putin's Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow.
Putin said that the capital's air defenses had worked properly.
"Moscow's air defense system worked normally, satisfactorily, although there is some work to do," Putin said.
And he claimed that the drone attack was Kyiv's “response” to a Russian strike on a military intelligence headquarters in Ukraine.
A Ukrainian "headquarters of military intelligence was struck two or three days ago," Putin said.
AFP contributed reporting.
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