As the country prepares to celebrate the Allies’ victory over Nazi Germany, a power line, two trains and even the Kremlin have come under attack that Moscow attributes to Kiev.
A new strategy in the war? On the night of Tuesday May 2 to Wednesday May 3, “two drones that targeted the Kremlin” have been “decommissioned through the use of radar systems”according to Moscow, which sees “an attempted terrorist act and an attempt on the life of the president”. A Russian freight train also derailed on Tuesday after an explosive device detonated in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine.
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In recent days, actions of this type have multiplied in Russia, which attributes them to Ukraine. kyiv claimed nothing and even denied any involvement in the drone attack on the Kremlin. Nevertheless, the country claims to have completed its preparations for its counter-offensive.
These incidents come especially as Russia prepares to celebrate May 9, which marks Nazi Germany’s surrender to the Allies, a moment of patriotic fervor for Vladimir Putin. In this context, several Russian cities have canceled the organized celebrations. For the time being, the great military parade in Moscow’s Red Square, the main event of this day, is maintained. Here is what we know of the events of the last days.
A drone attack on the Kremlin was foiled
Russia said on Wednesday May 3 that it shot down two Ukrainian drones that were trying to attack the Kremlin. On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, “two drones” have been “decommissioned through the use of radar systems”, according to the Russian presidency. “We consider these actions an attempted terrorist act and an attempt on the life of the president”, adds the Kremlin, which specifies that Vladimir Putin was not injured. A video posted by some Russian media on social media showed a plume of smoke rising above the Kremlin overnight. It was not immediately possible to verify these independent source images.
If drones have already crashed in the Moscow region in recent months, this is the first time that an incursion attributed to Ukraine has occurred in the heart of the Russian capital. For its part, kyiv assured through Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky, that “of course, Ukraine has nothing to do with the drone attacks on the Kremlin”.
Two trains derailed near Bryansk and Wenetcha
“An unidentified explosive device detonated near Snejetskaya station”also said the governor of the Briansk region, bordering Ukraine, on Tuesday. “The incident led to the derailment of a locomotive and several train cars”, he added on Telegram *, specifying that there were no victims. The station is located 2 km from the city of Bryansk, which has nearly 370,000 inhabitants. According to Russian state media Pravda*, the power of the explosion was equivalent to 10 kg of TNT. The destruction of the locomotive and wagons resulted in the leakage of 12 tons of fuel, according to Pravda.
Another train sabotage reported in Bryansk region in Western Russia, with 20 cars going off rails after a series of explosions. Russian Railways called it “illegal interference,” per RBC. This is a second incident in two days — yesterday another train carrying fuel was blown up. pic.twitter.com/itpUVN32kC
— Mary Ilyushina (@maryilyushina) May 2, 2023
The state-owned Russian Railways blamed the derailment of the train on “the intervention of unauthorized persons in the work of rail transport”, not to mention an explosive device. The company said the incident occurred at 7:47 p.m. (local time) between Snejetskaya and the village of Belye Berega. The engine and “about twenty wagons” have derailed. Traffic on this section had to be suspended. On Monday, another explosion had already derailed a freight train, which had partially caught fire, near Ounetcha, a town even closer to the Ukrainian border.
An explosion targeted a power line near Saint Petersburg
A high-voltage line was also damaged Monday, May 1 by an explosive device near Saint Petersburg, announced the governor of the region. “At 00:01 a pole of a power line exploded in the territory of the locality of Susaninskoye, in the district of Gatchina”, says Oleksandr Drozdenko on his Telegram channel*. “An unknown object, probably an explosive device, was found on the far post.” According to him, the electricity supply to the surrounding villages has not been cut off. Explosives technicians, agents of the FSB and the prosecutor’s office went to the scene. An investigation was opened for “sabotage”.
Russia is now looking for the perpetrators of these sabotages
“Residents in the area are asked to be vigilant and report any suspicious person or object to the authorities,” said the local governor on Telegram* after this sabotage. In the Bryansk region, the authorities are also looking for “a man of about 35 with a beard” who was seen near the train tracks shortly before the explosion.
Numerous “sabotages” on railways in Russia have been reported since Moscow launched its military offensive against Ukraine in February 2022. More than 66 people suspected of “railway sabotage” have been arrested in Russia in about 20 regions of the country, according to a count by the Russian opposition media Meduza* published in mid-April. Moscow has strongly tightened its legislation against this “sabotage”, now punishable by very heavy prison sentences.
“In most of these cases, the defendants are under 25 years old. A good third of them are minors”, says Meduza. Prosecutions are often initiated for light charges, then reclassified as “terrorism” or “sabotage”. On May 2, the FSB announced that it had dismantled a Ukrainian network that planned to carry out a series of acts of sabotage and terrorism in Crimea. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, estimated that the “most important” was to continue the offensive in Ukraine “to eliminate threats at the root”.
* Links followed by an asterisk refer to content in Russian.