The issue of drones came up repeatedly during the event. One serviceman claimed that NATO countries “have made it possible to launch UAVs from their territory at our sites.”
Western countries “have not yet gone so far as to launch anything from their own territory” because they “understand there will be a response,” Putin said.
Putin later returned to the issue of drones while commenting on the situation at the front. He again claimed that Russian forces were conducting offensive operations along the entire front line, a statement that contradicts data from Ukraine’s General Staff.
“These drones, strikes on civilian infrastructure — what are they for? To destabilize society, to create uncertainty about the actions of the Russian armed forces,” Putin said.
Putin did not mention the largest Ukrainian drone strike on Moscow.
Attacks on Moscow oil refinery: What is known
Moscow came under a large-scale drone attack on the morning of June 18, with hundreds of drones reported, explosions heard and footage of major fires shared online.
Ukraine’s Defense Forces later confirmed a repeat strike on Moscow’s largest oil refinery in the Kapotnya district, about 15 kilometers from the Kremlin. Fires broke out in at least five locations at the facility, while black smoke covered the city.
Russian media reported that it was the largest attack on the Russian capital since the start of the full-scale war.
A combined oil refining unit, three RVS-10,000 storage tanks and one RVS-30,000 storage tank were damaged at the refinery, Ukraine’s General Staff said.
Ukrainian strikes on Moscow exposed vulnerabilities in Russia’s air defense, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said. Russian military bloggers began openly criticizing censorship and the authorities’ inability to shield the public from the consequences of the war after the attacks, the analysts added.
Russian authorities reported new drone attacks on Moscow on June 19 and June 22, with explosions heard.
Ukraine’s General Staff later reported a strike on the Dubna Space Communications Center in Russia’s Moscow Oblast.