“Who would have declared such a war on us in Moscow?”

After six consecutive days of drone attacks on the Moscow region this week, one would think the shock of sudden late-night explosions might compel some Russians to consider what Ukrainian civilians have endured during 550 days of relentless Russian attacks.

Instead, some residents near the Russian capital have taken to social media to vent about the inconvenience of being woken up in the middle of the night, question why the “international community” isn’t coming to their rescue, and blame Ukrainian “terrorists” for targeting civilian areas. (Never mind that Moscow has repeatedly attacked residential areas in Ukraine with Iranian-made Shahed drones.)

No injuries have been reported in the recent string of attacks, and Russian officials claim to have shot down most of the drones that they say caused only “minor damage” to a building in Moscow City and several broken windows elsewhere. Kyiv has not confirmed or denied involvement in the drone strikes.

Russian media widely covered the attacks, airing interviews with residents who showed off their broken windows.

“It was scary to go up to the window,” said one man recounting his shock to wake up and find his window shattered. “This is the first time anything like this has happened to me.”

Separately, he told Deutsche Welle, “At first, there was panic. I thought the building had been hit by a shell.”

“It’s very scary. What if it hits the house next time?” another resident told DW, noting that she has a young child in the home. “Who would have declared such a war on us in Moscow?” she asked, unironically.

archive link: https://archive.is/xFkDe

  • drathvedro@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Okay, that sounds reasonable. But if that’s the case, why don’t they blow up something of strategic value? I’m sure there are some military factories around Moscow that they could blow up overnight without causing any civilian harm. That’d honestly be quite badass.

    But to me it sounds like they don’t actually have the capacity to do so. No drone has an ability to reach from Kiyv to Moscow, so those attacks are likely done by local partisans who jerry rigged off the shelf drones with diy explosives. Those wont be able to do any serious damage other than making flashy headlines.

    • uphillbothways@kbin.socialOP
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      1 year ago

      They did. That happened. Just a few weeks ago.

      The blast took place at Zagorsk Optical and Mechanical Plant, in the town of Sergiev Posad, TASS reported. The plant is a developer and manufacturer for optical and optoelectronic devices for the Russian military, law enforcement agencies, industry and healthcare.

      source link: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/09/europe/moscow-industrial-plant-blast-intl/index.html
      second source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/09/huge-explosion-firework-factory-sergiev-posad-near-moscow

      • drathvedro@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        It’s not yet clear whether this was of Ukrainian doing or just coincidence. If they can blow one they can certainly blow a few more. If it’s actually them and they keep at it, It’ll definitely change my position on this whole situation I’ll even edit all of my comments to say how wrong I was.

    • yata@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      I am completely stumped at what the hell your point even is. There is no such thing as “petty vandalism” in a war, and flashy headlines can be a powerful tool as well.

      • drathvedro@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Look, imagine I’m a bad guy and I beat you up. And what you did in revenge is you shat on my doorstep. You’re not fighting back. I’d be happy for you if you did, but you’re just a shitter, not a hero that you think you are.

        What good does a headline make? Sure, someone might read this and say “That fucker @drathvedro totally deserved this” and continue on, maybe send you some weapons as a gift. But you know what happens after that - I’m coming to you and I’m beating your ass again.

        The point, that I’ve been repeatedly telling around here, is that Ukraine is incapable of fighting back. Not with HIMARS, not with F-16, not with whatever. They simply lack the headcount to do so. If you really care about Ukraine, join in and fight for them. Or fuck off. Otherwise, you’re just standing there like an asshole cheering for the weak one to be beaten, to the point that they actually believe that they stand a chance. They don’t.