2023-05-03 19:25:24
Al-Jazeera Net correspondents
Moscow- Several indications and messages in more than one direction, carried by the attempt to target the Russian presidential palace (the Kremlin) in the center of the capital, Moscow, with two drones, and many questions regarding the timing and target, and about whether Russia will respond and in what way, especially if it is proven that Ukraine is involved in being behind the attempt to target the building that It has been the symbol of the state and its headquarters for centuries.
At around 3 am today, Wednesday (Moscow time), two drones attempted to target the Russian presidential residence before they were shot down at the last moment, when one of them was about to touch the Russian flagpole on the Kremlin dome, causing shrapnel to scatter on the square of the presidential palace. Without casualties or material damage.
The Kremlin press service was quick to accuse Ukraine of being behind the incident, describing it as a “planned terrorist act and an attempt to assassinate the Russian president,” stressing that Russia reserves the right to take retaliatory measures at the appropriate time and place.
Tantrum
For his part, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin considered what he called the “terrorist act against the president” an attack on all of Russia, calling for “classifying the Kiev Nazi regime as a terrorist organization, and allowing the use of weapons that can deter and destroy it.”
In the initial measures, the authorities imposed a ban on the use of all types of drones in the capital, Moscow, and in more than 40 cities, with the exception of parades necessary for the needs of the state.
For months, talk has been accelerating about the possibility of Ukraine launching attacks on various targets inside Russia using drones. And last February, the news that Ukrainian drones could reach areas near Moscow became almost stereotypical, but no one talked about the possibility of them reaching the presidential residence.
In the same month, an unidentified drone crashed near a Gazprom facility in a suburb of Moscow. At the end of March, someone found fragments of a drone near the railway tracks in New Moscow, with the words “Glory to Ukraine” written on its wings.
Last year, the “Washington Post” spoke about the existence of threats of strikes against Moscow, and the newspaper indicated – citing another batch of leaked American documents – that the head of the main intelligence department of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Kirill Budanov, planned to strike regions inside Russia on February 24 of this year, But at Washington’s request, the attacks were postponed.
Celebration upset
The incident comes at a time that may carry indications related to the most important historical events in Russian history, as it preceded a few days of the celebration of the Victory Day over Germany during World War II, which is celebrated on the ninth of May every year in the Red Square exactly adjacent to the Kremlin wall. Which has become an additional symbolic, moral, political and military, since the start of the war with Ukraine.
In the opinion of Roland Bigamov, an expert in Russian affairs, the attempt to target the Kremlin, with the symbolic significance of the place, came primarily to negatively affect the morale of Russian public opinion, and in the context of sending messages to Moscow about the imminent start of the counterattack by the Ukrainian forces.
And Bigamov said – in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net – that Kiev is trying to impose rules of engagement with Moscow, by using escalation as a means to influence the course of Russian military plans in Ukraine, in a way that affects the balance of these plans, and ensures that Moscow is lured into taking “nervous and emotional” decisions, noting. The incident has undoubtedly become an occasion to strengthen air defenses and security measures throughout the country.
reply
Meanwhile, an active discussion began in the media and blogosphere in Russia about a possible response to such an attack.
According to the director of the Center for Political Forecasting, Denis Karkodinov, one of the most common options is to launch a similar strike on decision-making centers in Kiev, such as the office of (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky, and the seat of government, foreign affairs and defense.
Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Karkodinov explained that “Russia now has all the legal foundations necessary to respond to the terrorist attack, and there is no need for additional decisions at the legislative level.”
Karkodinov goes on to say that after the attack on the Kremlin, Putin has the right to “cancel all security guarantees” to the Ukrainian president that he had previously given during a conversation with then-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and that Moscow has, in any case, wide options for a response.
At the same time, the Russian expert does not rule out the possibility that the march was launched by a sabotage and reconnaissance group directly from within Russian territory, because this – according to his opinion – will greatly increase its chances of reaching the center of the capital.
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