Hundreds of Ukrainian Drones Target Moscow as Putin's War Comes Home To Moscow
Hundreds of Ukrainian drones were shot down over Moscow on May 7, the city’s mayor said, as Russian authorities tried to protect the capital days before the May 9 military parade. Putin's war comes home to moscow in a city that has spent months coping with disrupted communications and services.
The immediate effect was not only aerial alarm. Moscow residents had already been dealing with unreliable cellphone coverage, blocked apps, and physical systems such as ATMs and ride apps that stopped working when public internet failed.
Moscow Before May 9
Russian officials said the air force intercepted hundreds of drones aimed at the capital two days before Moscow was due to host Russia’s annual May 9 military parade. Vladimir Putin revived the Soviet-era celebration linked to Stalin’s victory over Nazi Germany and his conquest of Europe, then sought a one-day cease-fire before the parade.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson said security was tight because the “threat from the Kyiv regime” had already been taken into account. The Russian foreign minister went further, issuing a threat of “no mercy” if Ukrainians struck the parade.
That response reflected a city already on alert. For the past several days before the parade, Muscovites were once again put on high alert, and according to a diplomat of the author’s acquaintance, snipers were visible in and around Red Square in advance of the parade.
Ukraine and the Cease-Fire
The political backdrop was a one-day cease-fire that Donald Trump persuaded Putin to ask Volodymyr Zelensky for. Zelensky granted Putin’s wish after Trump offered to broker an exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war, and Zelensky formally granted Putin permission to hold the parade.
The drone episode sat on top of a pattern Moscow had already seen. On May 3, 2023, the first two Ukrainian drones to reach Moscow exploded over the Kremlin and did no damage, and Ukrainian drones later targeted Moscow’s airports dozens of times, buzzing runways or circling airports and creating travel chaos and expense.
Red Square Under Pressure
Four years after Moscow first confronted drones, the parade week showed how far the war had moved into the capital’s daily life. Alleged security measures had rendered cellphone coverage in Moscow and across Russia unreliable, at times nonexistent, while in April the state cut access to the Russian-built app Telegram and many VPNs.
Without public internet, many physical systems including ATMs stopped working, and ride apps also did not function. High inflation and high interest rates had already weighed on Russia’s wealthiest businesses and consumers for months, making the capital’s security lockdown one more strain on ordinary routines.
The next test is the parade itself on May 9, with Russian authorities already treating Moscow as a protected target rather than a city removed from the war.
