Drone attacks rattle Muscovites, fueling heated social media discussion
The drone attacks on Moscow and the surrounding region on 17 May was the largest since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Three people were killed and another 16 injured. The strikes caused damage to the Angstrom plant in Zelenograd — which supplies semiconductors for Russia’s military-industrial complex and is under US sanctions — as well as the Kapotnya oil refinery, the Solnechnogorskaya and Volodarskoye oil pumping stations, and a number of apartment blocks and private homes.
“You’re being liberated. What’s there to panic about?”
While Russia’s federal television channels largely chose to ignore the drone attack — the deaths in Moscow and the region were mentioned only briefly in Sunday morning news bulletins — it remains one of the most widely discussed topics on social media. Residents of the capital region have been sharing their experiences in the comments sections of independent media outlets, which, unlike pro-government media, covered the aftermath of the strike extensively and in detail. (Original spelling and punctuation preserved.)
“In the south-east of Moscow there were explosions from 4am, drones flying around. We hid in the bathroom, some people hid in underground car parks, others on the lower floors of buildings. Not a single warning! Not one siren! Bomb shelters? We don’t have any. People ran to the metro in Lefortovo and it was closed. Nowhere to hide. That’s how they protect us.”
“I’m from the Moscow region, been awake since 3am because of the explosions. No text alerts from the Emergency Ministry — though they somehow send alerts about rain and strong winds, clowns — no sirens, nothing at all. Nobody gives a damn about us.”
“Now in St Petersburg we’re scared to go to sleep.”
Despite a ban imposed by the Moscow authorities on publishing photos and videos showing the aftermath of drone strikes — justified on the grounds that “the spread of false information” must be prevented — social media was flooded with footage of burning and destroyed buildings filmed by eyewitnesses. Alongside the panic among Muscovites and residents of the surrounding region, these posts sparked gleeful reactions and mockery from readers in Ukraine.
“I only want to say one thing to you — enjoy your war! You deserve it.”
“Oh really, you’re scared? And Ukrainians haven’t been scared for four and a half years?”
“Like it or not, put up with it, my beauty.” (a reference to a Putin quote)
“Relax. You’re being liberated. Why panic?”
For many people in Russia’s regions, the Ukrainian attack on the capital became an opportunity to express resentment towards Muscovites, who enjoy a much higher standard of living and, in their view, have barely suffered the consequences of the “special military operation”.
“We in Kursk are already used to it — explosions, drones flying overhead. Get used to it, dear Muscovites)))) You lot live in another world!!!! We calmly go to work, we stopped being afraid long ago.”
“Poor things, they got bombed for an hour and lost their minds in Moscow, meanwhile the whole Rostov region is under fire for six or seven hours at a time.”
“I have a few online acquaintances in Moscow. For them, the war is just an inconvenience — not being able to buy something, travel somewhere, or access a certain website. The deaths of their fellow citizens, and especially Ukrainians, mean nothing to them. They don’t think about it at all.”
Independent Russian media outlets have meanwhile been sharing instructions on how to survive an air raid — effectively performing a duty that neither the Russian authorities nor Kremlin-controlled media have bothered to take on. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov merely complained about the “ongoing UAV strikes by the Ukrainian armed forces on civilian targets”, without even mentioning the attack on Moscow. Putin himself did not react at all to the apparent failure of Russia’s air defence system.
“Poor Tsar, he probably has no idea what’s going on there… Maybe Bonya will make another little Reel about it…” social media users joked openly.
By contrast, Ukraine’s president said that “the war is quite predictably returning to its home harbour, and this is a clear signal that one should not pick a fight with Ukraine or wage an unjust war of conquest against another people”. Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that the attack was especially significant because the Moscow region is the area most heavily protected by Russian air defence systems.
“They protect the area where the authorities are based more than anywhere else. But Ukrainian long-range capabilities are already overcoming that,” Zelenskyy said.
“Moscow will keep getting hit”
Military analyst Kirill Mikhailov believes it was important for the Ukrainian authorities to demonstrate that Moscow’s air defence system is not invulnerable — especially as it is considered one of the strongest in the world, alongside those of Kyiv and Israel. At the same time, he argues, Ukraine’s military objective was to ensure that those air defence systems remain concentrated around the capital.
“It was Sobyanin who lobbied for Moscow to receive so much air defence at the expense of other regions and frontline territories. That caused resentment in the periphery, which remained less protected. So the Ukrainians may have reasoned that if they strike Moscow periodically, the Russian military and political leadership will continue keeping air defence systems there, making things easier for Ukraine in other regions,” Mikhailov says.
According to the analyst, Ukraine currently has the upper hand in drone warfare, despite the widespread perception in 2025 that Russia was winning the drone war. Kyiv has not only managed to scale up production of Western-designed drones, but has also launched mass production of its own systems, several of which were reportedly used in the attack on Moscow and the surrounding region.
“Ukraine is flying Rubaka and Bulava drones into Russia — Ukraine’s answer to the Russian Lancet — as well as American Hornets, German Helsing drones, and Ukrainian FP-1 and Liutyi drones. This latest strike on Moscow involved BARS jet drones. So it’s a broad range of both Ukrainian and Western systems,” Mikhailov notes.
In the wake of the successful attack, some Ukrainians advised Russians to “try fighting the gangsters in the Kremlin”. Sociologist Igor Yakovenko, however, believes that is futile. In his view, protest as an option no longer exists in Russia, even if public attitudes towards the war are changing — primarily because of the threat of repression.
“Russia’s internal army, in terms of numbers and combat capability, is equal to or even larger than the occupation army fighting in Ukraine. That includes the National Guard, the FSB, the Federal Protective Service, the prison service, and the police. It’s a powerful repressive machine. And besides, anyone capable of leading protests is either imprisoned, exiled, or dead,” Yakovenko says.
The sociologist believes the current situation could only seriously threaten the authorities if Russia suffers a major military defeat.
“Only if discontent spreads within the Russian army could public dissatisfaction start to matter. Especially since Putin’s own majority — the Z-bloggers and pro-war military correspondents — are already unhappy with his policies. As someone who doesn’t use the internet, Putin belongs to an absolute minority: only around 5% of Russians are offline now. The other 95% use the internet and are of course angry about the restrictions. Some can’t work, some can’t watch their favourite series or play games, and others can’t even get information about incoming drones. But nobody is going to take to the streets and overthrow Putin. Armed people can only be defeated by other armed people — that’s an axiom,” Yakovenko argues.
As for the possible “turning point” in the war that some experts have spoken about, Kirill Mikhailov believes there are indeed positive signs for Ukraine.
“A turning point is first and foremost about what happens on the front line. It’s not one single moment — a turning point in a war can last a year, eighteen months, even two years. Right now it’s reflected in the significant slowdown of the Russian offensive. The fact that Russia is no longer advancing as it did in 2024 and 2025 can already be seen as the beginning of a turning period. In other words, the situation on the battlefield is starting to shift in Ukraine’s favour,” Mikhailov says.
The analyst acknowledges that strikes on Moscow are largely symbolic, but stresses that Ukrainians are pursuing an important objective: the war must be seriously felt by those Russians for whom the front line still seems distant and abstract — in much the same way that all Ukrainians have experienced it since 24 February 2022.
“The main thing is that Moscow is no longer untouchable, as it was for a long time when there were barely any strikes. No — Moscow will keep getting hit too.”
