Drone strikes on apartment blocks have nothing to do with military action, Dmitry Peskov has said
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated that Ukrainian drone attacks on residential areas in Russia demonstrate the reason behind Moscow’s continued military operation against Kiev.
Early Tuesday, at least two apartment blocks were damaged in Ramenskoye, a city outside Moscow, during a large-scale Ukrainian UAV raid on Russian territory. The attack resulted in one fatality and three hospitalizations. According to Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyev, the attack also ignited a blaze in one of the buildings.
“Night strikes on residential areas can in no way be associated with military action,” Peskov informed journalists later in the day.
He asserted that by targeting apartment blocks, “the Kiev regime continues to demonstrate its essence. They are the enemies,”.
Russia “must continue its military operation [against Ukraine] in order to protect ourselves from such manifestations of such a regime,” the spokesman added.
Peskov declined to comment on the effectiveness of Russian air defenses during the raid, stating that this should be left to experts.
“On a non-professional level, we can say that our military has already acquired considerable experience in combating drones. They are producing good results,” he emphasized.
“I cannot say how the supreme commander-in-chief [Russian President Vladimir Putin] rates it,” the spokesman added.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday morning that a total of 144 drones were destroyed or intercepted during “an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack using unmanned aerial vehicles” on Russian territory overnight.
Incoming plane-type UAVs were shot down over nine Russian regions, including 72 drones above Bryansk Region and 20 above Moscow Region, the ministry stated.
Since January, Kiev has intensified its drone incursions into Russia, primarily targeting energy infrastructure, but also striking residential areas. In response, Moscow has added Ukrainian power plants to its list of legitimate military targets. As a result, most of Ukraine’s non-nuclear generation capacity has been disabled or destroyed by Russian strikes since then.
A large-scale Ukrainian UAV attack on Russian territory occurred on September 1, resulting in the elimination of as many as 158 drones above more than a dozen Russian regions, according to the Defense Ministry. Several major raids also took place in August.