Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the drone strike on Moscow on the 30th an “act of terrorism” and warned of strong retaliation.
President Putin claimed at an economic exhibition held in Moscow that day, “Our military (Russian forces) attacked the headquarters of the Ukrainian military intelligence agency a few days ago.”
Putin: We targeted the headquarters of the Ukrainian military intelligence command pic.twitter.com/cUO9Fq3TFa
— Spriter (@Spriter99880) May 30, 2023
“They (Ukrainian forces) took a different route (the Moscow drone strike) in response,” he said.
“They (through the airstrikes on Moscow) threatened Russia and Russian citizens and attacked residential buildings,” he said. “This is clear evidence of an act of terrorism.”
“These provocations by Ukraine are intended to provoke a correspondingly strong response from Russia,” he warned, “see what we can do.”
■ Take aim at Zelensky directly
Putin then targeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Ukrainian citizens should know that the country’s leader (President Zelensky) forced Russia to accept a strong response,” Putin said.
Regarding the point that Moscow’s air defense network had been breached, he protested, saying, “The air defense system was working as usual.”
However, he added, “there are still challenges.”
■ A large-scale drone attack on the city of Moscow
Before this day (30th), a large-scale drone (unmanned aerial vehicle) air strike took place in Moscow, the capital of Russia.
See also: Mass airstrikes on Moscow, the capital of Russia… Ukraine “Attacks will increase, it’s fun to watch”
Flats on the west and south-west sides of the city were damaged and partially injured.
The local media said that 25 drones were used in the raid.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had intercepted five attacking drones and disabled three with electronic warfare.
Russian authorities blamed Ukraine for the airstrike, which Ukrainian authorities immediately denied.
Mikhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential office assistant, appeared on the YouTube program “Breakfast Show” on the 30th and said that the Ukrainian military was not directly involved in the air strike.
Then, with a smile on his face, he said, “I think there will be more attacks in the future,” and added, “It’s fun to watch.”
■ “Ukraine threatens nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia”
Meanwhile, President Putin also claimed that Ukraine threatened the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant on the same day (30th).
“There are other threats,” Putin said, “for example, Ukraine could use a nuclear ‘dirty device’ to disrupt the operation of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.”
The ‘dirty device’ appears to refer to a ‘dirty bomb’ which injects nuclear material into a conventional bomb and causes radioactive contamination around it.
Main Ukrainian regions including Zaporizhzhya (central) [클릭하시면 크게 보실 수 있습니다.]
Recently, Ukrainian military intelligence officials said that Russia is planning a massive provocation against the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in order to slow down the Ukrainian ‘counter-offensive’.
President Putin refuted on the same day (30th) that Ukraine is preparing a provocation.
Currently, the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is under Russian control.
This is VOA News Jongsu Oh.
