On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed Ukraine would face more “destruction” in response to a Ukrainian drone attack deep inside Russia.
The attack was launched on Saturday and targeted apartment buildings in the city of Kazan, which is about 620 miles from the frontlines in Ukraine. Six drones hit residential buildings, and one hit an industrial facility, causing some damage, but no casualties were reported.
“Whoever and however tries to destroy something in our country, he will face destruction many times larger in his own country and will regret its attempts to do that in our country,” Putin said.
Throughout the war, Russia has stepped up its bombardment of Ukraine in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory. Last week, Ukraine fired more US-provided ATACMS missiles and British Storm Shadow missiles into Russia. Two days later, Russia launched heavy missile strikes on Kyiv, killing one and cutting heat to hundreds of residential buildings, an attack Moscow said was a response to the NATO missiles being fired into its territory.
While the ATACMS and Storm Shadows strikes are more provocative since they are directly supported by NATO countries, Ukrainian drones are able to hit much deeper inside Russia. There are also indications that the drone attacks are supported by the US and NATO.
Last year, The Economist reported that Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory were carried out using intelligence provided by Ukraine’s Western backers. The US also recently announced it would spend $800 million to help Ukraine manufacture more long-range drones, marking another type of support for attacks inside Russian territory.
