A day after blaming Ukraine for a massive drone strike on Moscow, Russia seized on the aerial assault as an example of what the Kremlin deems a spiraling proxy dispute with NATO. The allegations came as Russian authorities said Ukrainian drones attacked two oil refineries in Russia’s Krasnodar region and four people were injured in shelling in a border town of Belgorod, the latest reports of the attacks Ukrainians on Russian soil. Additionally, Russian officials based in Ukraine’s Luhansk region – one of four that Moscow claims to have annexed – said Ukraine used US-made Himars rocket launchers to attack a farm in the village of Karpaty. overnight, killing five people and injuring 19. comment from Ukraine.
Some Russian officials on Wednesday seized on US and British officials’ comments on the Moscow strike, saying they were evidence of their governments’ tacit support for Ukraine’s military operations in Russia. Following the drone attack, the UK Defense Secretary james shrewdly declared that Ukraine had “the right to project its force beyond its borders”. The White House’s response was more circumspect, but it also refrained from criticizing the first military strike to hit civilian areas in the Russian capital since the start of the invasion. “We do not support attacks inside Russia,” he said, while noting that Moscow struck civilian areas in Kyiv for the 17th time.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that Russia “would have preferred to hear at least a few words of condemnation” of the drone attack from Western capitals. “We will calmly and deliberately think about how to handle this.” Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s National Security Council and former president, went further, calling the UK “our eternal enemy”. In a post on Twitter, he said the country was “de facto waging an undeclared war against Russia”. providing Ukraine with military aid and specialists. He said this means any UK official “can be considered a legitimate military target”.
Russia has long accused the West of waging a proxy war against it. These claims intensified when a group of anti-Kremlin Russian paramilitaries appeared to use US armored vehicles to stage a raid in the Belgorod border region. Russian officials have long said NATO members’ military aid to Ukraine increases the risk of direct confrontation and possible nuclear war.
Some Russian officials on Wednesday seized on US and British officials’ comments on the Moscow strike, saying they were evidence of their governments’ tacit support for Ukraine’s military operations in Russia. Following the drone attack, the UK Defense Secretary james shrewdly declared that Ukraine had “the right to project its force beyond its borders”. The White House’s response was more circumspect, but it also refrained from criticizing the first military strike to hit civilian areas in the Russian capital since the start of the invasion. “We do not support attacks inside Russia,” he said, while noting that Moscow struck civilian areas in Kyiv for the 17th time.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that Russia “would have preferred to hear at least a few words of condemnation” of the drone attack from Western capitals. “We will calmly and deliberately think about how to handle this.” Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s National Security Council and former president, went further, calling the UK “our eternal enemy”. In a post on Twitter, he said the country was “de facto waging an undeclared war against Russia”. providing Ukraine with military aid and specialists. He said this means any UK official “can be considered a legitimate military target”.
Russia has long accused the West of waging a proxy war against it. These claims intensified when a group of anti-Kremlin Russian paramilitaries appeared to use US armored vehicles to stage a raid in the Belgorod border region. Russian officials have long said NATO members’ military aid to Ukraine increases the risk of direct confrontation and possible nuclear war.
