Putin Says Ukraine Drone Strikes on Moscow Aim to Scare and Provoke Russia

A view shows a damaged multi-storey apartment block following a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, May 30, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows a damaged multi-storey apartment block following a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, May 30, 2023. (Reuters)
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Putin Says Ukraine Drone Strikes on Moscow Aim to Scare and Provoke Russia

A view shows a damaged multi-storey apartment block following a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, May 30, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows a damaged multi-storey apartment block following a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, May 30, 2023. (Reuters)

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Ukraine's biggest ever drone strike on Moscow was an attempt to scare and provoke Russia, and air defenses around the capital would be strengthened.

Russia said eight drones targeted civilian areas of Moscow and the Moscow region - with a population of over 21 million - in the early hours of Tuesday but were either shot down or diverted with special electronic jammers.

Putin cast the assault, which brought the 15-month war in Ukraine to the heart of Russia, as a terrorist response that came after Russia struck at Ukraine's military intelligence headquarters several days ago.

Ukraine, Putin said, had chosen the path of attempting "to intimidate Russia, Russian citizens and attacks on residential buildings".

"This is clearly a sign of terrorist activity," he said.

Air defenses around Moscow - which as the capital of the world's biggest nuclear power is already protected by an extensive early warning system - would be strengthened, he said.

A Ukrainian presidential aide denied Kyiv was directly involved in the Moscow attack, but said Ukraine was enjoying watching events and forecast more to come.

"Of course, we are pleased to watch and predict an increase in the number of attacks. But of course, we have nothing directly to do with this," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said.

There is little sign of peace in one of the deadliest wars in Europe since World War Two, and Moscow has repeatedly warned that the West is escalating the war by supplying Kyiv with so much weaponry.

Moscow under attack

Drone attacks deep inside Russia have intensified in recent weeks with strikes on oil pipelines and even the Kremlin earlier this month. Ukraine denied the Kremlin attack, but The New York Times reported that US intelligence believes Kyiv was responsible.

Drone debris hit some of Moscow's most prestigious areas including Leninsky Prospekt, a grand avenue crafted under Josef Stalin, and the area of western Moscow where the Russian elite - including Putin - have their residences.

Residents in south-western Moscow said they heard loud bangs at around 0200 to 0300 GMT, followed by the smell of petrol. Some filmed a drone being shot down and a plume of smoke rising over the Moscow skyline.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said two people were injured, one of whom was hospitalized, in the early morning attack. Moscow's airports remained open. No deaths were reported.

Russia at war

So far Putin has kept the war in Ukraine far from Moscow, where life has continued relatively normally despite the biggest rupture in Russia's ties with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Russia began attacking the Ukrainian capital with swarms of cheaply produced loitering munitions often known as “kamikaze drones” last October and uses them extensively during its regular air strikes across Ukraine.

Prosecutors said incidents occurred in the Odintsovsky District of western Moscow region - where Putin has his Novo-Ogaryovo state residence. The area, the most expensive in Russia, is the home to the country's elite.

Russian state television gave the attacks calm coverage. Many Muscovites carried on with their lives with the fatalism for which they are famous.

On a warm spring day in the city center, residents could be seen taking selfies in front of the Bolshoi Theater while others relaxed in cafes and shopped in the well-stocked luxury stores of Moscow.

Putin has repeatedly cast the conflict in Ukraine as a struggle with what he says is an arrogant and aggressive West which is risking a global war by supporting Ukraine.

Thus far, the war has been described by the Kremlin as a "special military operation". The United States has repeatedly said it does not want a war with Russia and has said Ukraine should not use Western weapons to attack inside Russia.

Russian lawmakers cautioned that there were likely to be more attacks on Moscow, which many said would make it necessary to give the military and security agencies even greater powers.

"The sabotage and terrorist attacks of Ukraine will only increase," said Alexander Khinshtein, from the ruling United Russia bloc.

"It is necessary to radically strengthen defense and security measures, especially in terms of countering drones. This includes finally passing the necessary laws."



Ukraine Will Send Team to US Next Week for Talks on New Draft Mineral Deal

Yuliia Svyrydenko, Ukraine's Minister of Economy answers on journalists questions during an interview with The Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP)
Yuliia Svyrydenko, Ukraine's Minister of Economy answers on journalists questions during an interview with The Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP)
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Ukraine Will Send Team to US Next Week for Talks on New Draft Mineral Deal

Yuliia Svyrydenko, Ukraine's Minister of Economy answers on journalists questions during an interview with The Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP)
Yuliia Svyrydenko, Ukraine's Minister of Economy answers on journalists questions during an interview with The Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP)

Ukraine will send a team to Washington next week to begin negotiations on a new draft of a deal that would give the US access to Ukraine’s valuable mineral resources, Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko told The Associated Press.

“The new draft agreement from the US shows that the intention to create a fund or jointly invest remains,” Svyrydenko said Saturday, during a trip to northern Ukraine.

The delegation from Kyiv will include representatives from the Ministries of Economy, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Finance.

The long-running negotiations over a mineral deal have already strained relations between Kyiv and Washington. The two sides had been preparing in February to sign a framework agreement but the plan was derailed following a contentious meeting in the Oval Office between US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

After some Ukrainian lawmakers leaked the new draft, critics slammed it as little more than an attempt to strip Kyiv of control over its own natural resources and infrastructure. According to the leaked document, the new draft includes not only rare-earth minerals but gas and oil.

Ukraine holds significant deposits of more than 20 minerals deemed strategically critical by the US, including titanium, which is used to make aircraft wings, lithium, key to several battery technologies, and uranium, used in nuclear power.

New draft only gives the US side of the deal Despite the disruption following the Oval Office meeting, Ukrainian officials showed interest in signing the framework deal at any time, seeing it as an important step to win the favor of President Donald Trump and shore up US backing in the war against Russia’s full-scale invasion.

After weeks of silence on the status of the deal, the US sent a new draft to Kyiv, which goes further than the original framework.

It’s unclear why the US chose to bypass the signing of the framework deal and instead moved forward with a more comprehensive draft agreement, which would likely require ratification by Ukraine’s parliament.

However, Ukrainian officials have been cautious about commenting on the contents of the draft, stressing that it currently reflects only one side’s position.

“What we have now is a document that reflects the position of the US Treasury legal team,” said Svyrydenko. “This is not a final version, it’s not a joint position.”

She said that Ukraine’s task now is to assemble a technical team for negotiations, define its red lines and core principles, and send a delegation to Washington for technical talks as early as next week.

“It’s clear that the full parameters of this agreement can’t be discussed online,” Svyrydenko said. “We need to sit down with the teams and continue the conversation in person.”

Legal, investment, and financial advisers are being selected, she said.

“This marks a new stage in relations with the United States — one that requires expertise across multiple areas,” she said. “Ultimately, everything will be decided through the course of negotiations.”

Ukraine seeks terms acceptable to both sides

Svyrydenko declined to elaborate publicly on Ukraine’s official evaluation of the new draft, but noted that there is now a more detailed document outlining the fund’s creation. And while the initial draft focused primarily on the intention to establish the fund, Svyrydenko said the latest version lays out how American advisers envision its structure and operation.

It remains unclear what role Ukraine would play in managing the fund under the newly proposed US draft. However, analysts who reviewed the leaked document said Kyiv’s involvement would likely be minimal — a point Ukraine hopes to challenge in upcoming negotiations, using the previously agreed framework as its reference.

A previous version of the framework agreement, obtained by The Associated Press, outlined plans for a jointly owned and managed investment fund between the United States and Ukraine, intended to support the reconstruction of Ukraine’s war-torn economy.

Under the terms, Ukraine would allocate 50% of future revenues generated from key national assets — including minerals, hydrocarbons, oil, natural gas, and other extractable resources — to the fund.

The framework agreement, which was never signed, stated that revenues from its natural resources would go into the fund and be used for the reconstruction of the country, not that ownership or control of those resources would be transferred to the United States.

“We’re very focused on ensuring that the final draft of the agreement, after negotiations, fully aligns with our strategic interests,” Svyrydenko said. “I believe the work on the previous memorandum showed that both teams are capable of reaching these goals and agreeing on terms acceptable to both sides.”