Kiev’s drones penetrate Moscow’s air defenses: Putin’s response

By Hermetikus

[COMMENT BY karloft1]
Putin conducted a tour of an exhibition being held at Zotov Center. Here is some info on that:

Vladimir Putin toured stands on architecture and urbanism, fashion and culture, design and tourism. The exposition presents, in particular, Russian brands of clothing and footwear, costume jewelry and jewelry, watches and accessories, handicrafts products, entertainment content of domestic production, including film, video games, animation and music, technology devices, specific examples of the development of the tourism potential of the regions.

"Zotov Center" is open after reconstruction in the building of the former Moscow bakery No.5 in November 2022. His projects are devoted to the study of the theory and practice of constructivism. Exhibition The space brings together works from Russian collections and storerooms museums, as well as private collections.

The person guiding Putin on the tour, General Director of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives Svetlana Chupsheva, asked the question Paco linked to @12:

Today we are meeting with you in the creative space "Zotov Center". I will tell you everything in a moment, Mr President, but I cannot help but ask first of all the question that concerns everyone today.

In the morning, there was a drone attack on Moscow and the Moscow region. Can you give an assessment of what happened, what measures need to be taken to prevent this from happening again, and how we should respond to it?

Putin's reply was a review of the overall history of the situation in an effort IMO to explain the Why. IMO, although most know this history, his answer ought to be provided in full:

Vladimir Putin: You know, it all started a long time ago. I'll just take two steps from the center of the field-I'll have to repeat it.

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After the collapse of the USSR, it was inevitable that there would be some kind of competition between Russia and Ukraine-this goes without saying, but, apparently, those who were engaged in this, proceeded from the fact that everything would happen in a civilized way and, moreover, on the basis of our closeness, common historical, cultural, linguistic and so on next. But everything went the other way, unfortunately, which is also to be expected.

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Basically, the territory called Ukraine was controlled from the very beginning by people who, led from the West, took the path of fighting not just with Russia, but creating an "anti-Russia"in this territory.

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They had to take into account people who lived in the south-east of Ukraine-these are voters, a large number of voters, they had to take into account. Let me also remind you that during the formation of independent Ukraine from the very beginning, from the first step, Ukraine declared itself a neutral state – the Declaration of Independence says so.

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Instead, they gradually-gradually-took a different path-joining NATO, an organization that is hostile to Russia and was created solely to fight the Soviet Union, Russia.

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And in 2008, without any external signs, any military-political tension, they announced that they were joining NATO, they wanted to join NATO, and the Western countries-the countries of the alliance-in Bucharest, in my opinion, at the summit announced that the doors to NATO were open for Ukraine. Not only were we deceived and told that there would be no NATO movement to the east – but they also reached Ukraine. Well okay.

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In 2014, as you know, they made a coup d'etat and simply began to destroy everyone who would like to build normal relations with Russia in one way or another. And in addition, they started a war in the Donbas, fighting. Then they deceived everyone to lull their vigilance, saying that they wanted to resolve the issue by peaceful means.

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Now they are already openly saying that they cheated only in order to accumulate forces and unleash military operations, including in relation to the Crimea. Now, as you know, they have reached the point of drone strikes.

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The Russian Armed Forces that were forced to respond-Russia was forced to respond to the war unleashed by the Ukrainian regime in the Donbas, we were all forced to respond with the launch of a special military operation - are striking at the territory of Ukraine, but with high-precision weapons of long range precisely at military infrastructure facilities or at ammunition depots or fuel and lubricants used for conducting combat operations.

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We have already discussed the possibility of attacking decision-making headquarters and decision-making centers. Of course, the Ukrainian military intelligence headquarters, which was hit two or three days ago, also belongs to this category.

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In response, as you know, the Kiev regime chose a different path-the path of attempts to intimidate Russia, intimidate Russian citizens and attack residential buildings. This, of course, is a clear sign of terrorist activity.

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First of all, I want to say that the Moscow air defense system worked normally and satisfactorily, although there is something to work on. We faced the same problems at the Khmeimim airfield in Syria, and the territory of our Khmeimim air base itself and Moscow, a huge European metropolis, is simply not comparable. But in general, it is clear what needs to be done to strengthen the air defense of the capital, and we will do it.

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But I am not so much concerned about this as about attempts to provoke a response from Russia. Apparently, it is designed for this: they provoke us to mirror actions. Let's see what to do about it.

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But the citizens of Ukraine, who, of course, do not have a word now, because total terror has been unleashed against the civilian population in Ukraine, still need to know what the current leadership of this country is pushing for, and just understand that there are still other threats associated, for example, with attempts to disrupt the work at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant or use some "dirty" devices of this kind related to the nuclear industry. We've already said this many times: we know what they're up to.

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It is clear that, no matter what we say, they will always look for the culprits in Russia, but this is not so: we did not unleash this war, I repeat, in 2014-the Kiev regime unleashed a war in the Donbas - and we do not use the means that the Ukrainian bigwigs use.

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And this attack on peaceful facilities in Moscow is another proof of this. But I repeat once again: the air defense system in our capital worked normally. We have a lot to work on, I'll say it again, and we know what needs to be done.

Clearly, Putin's answer was directed at all Russians, not just Muscovites. I recall what Putin said about the terrorists involved in the Second Chechen War who were also backed by CIA/MI-6, that there's no negotiating with them as they're all to be eliminated wherever they're found. IMO, those words like so many others were never heard by the West, but they stand as policy nevertheless. The US Congress funds Terrorists and has for decades. I wonder what percentage of Russia's population know that fact and how they feel about it? And of course, it's easy to understand why Putin vowed to eliminate the Outlaw US Empire's hegemony and why China and other nations agree.

Posted by: karlof1 | May 30 2023 15:40 utc | 27

NOTE: The above are comments excerpted from Moon of Alabama's dispatch on the same topic, Drones Strikes In Moscow - Missile Strikes In Ukraine, published on 30 May 2023. As usual, MoA is among the top platforms for quality in reporting on current strategic affairs.