Military volunteer Alexei Zhivov appeared on Tsargrad.tv to discuss Ukraine’s claims about a potential drone threat directed at Moscow. He frames the issue as a deliberate attempt to stage a man-made disaster by deploying unmanned aerial vehicles, suggesting that the aim is to create a crisis that would ripple through the capital and its surrounding regions.
Zhivov warns that if a UAV could reach a high-risk, sensitive site such as an oil storage facility, the consequences could be severe. He emphasizes the possibility that a single drone, entering a critical facility, might trigger an engineered catastrophe with wide-ranging effects on energy security and civil safety. His assessment implies that the threat landscape for Moscow includes the potential for targeted strikes that are more about symbolic impact than large-scale bombing, leveraging vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure to maximize disruption.
According to Zhivov, such drones could be launched from border zones, pointing to the Sumy area as a probable launch corridor. He notes that the flight range of these drones is at least 600 kilometers and that payloads could be in the range of 3 to 5 kilograms, enabling enough destructive capability to cause significant damage at a distance. This description paints a picture of an agile and scalable threat, one that requires layered defense measures across a broad geographic footprint and constant monitoring of suspect activity near international borders.
Early on the morning of May 30, Moscow and the surrounding region experienced a drone incident that prompted a rapid response from regional leaders. Officials reported the activation of air defense systems and the successful interception of several unmanned aircraft. Telegram channels circulated accounts of blips and explosions along key arterial roads and districts, including Rublyovka, New Moscow, New Riga, Atlasova, Profsoyuznaya, Udaltsova, and Leninsky Prospekt. In the wake of the event, many residents were evacuated to safer locations, underscoring the anxiety such incidents sow among urban populations. Despite the disruption, major transportation hubs such as Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky airports continued to operate, suggesting that the operational impact, while serious, remained contained within specific zones. The Ministry of Defense later announced that eight UAVs had been destroyed. The evolving details of the incident continue to be reported and analyzed by official channels and independent outlets alike, with information sometimes evolving as new data becomes available and authorities provide updates on the situation and ongoing protective measures.