Not a Reason for a World War*

*Editor’s note: On March 4, 2022, Russia enacted a law that criminalizes public opposition to, or independent news reporting about, the war in Ukraine. The law makes it a crime to call the war a “war” rather than a “special military operation” on social media or in a news article or broadcast. The law is understood to penalize any language that “discredits” Russia’s use of its military in Ukraine, calls for sanctions or protests Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It punishes anyone found to spread “false information” about the invasion with up to 15 years in prison.

Dmitry Drize – on the consequences of the drone attack on the Kremlin

Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov put the responsibility for the drone attack on the Kremlin on the U.S., since it’s the U.S. who’s coordinating Kyiv’s actions. The U.S. administration promptly denied this allegation. According to the Russian side, Ukraine launched drones in an attempt on President Vladimir Putin’s life. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that his country had nothing to do with this attack. Kommersant’s political analyst Dmitry Drize doesn’t see any reason for a sharp deterioration of the situation.

Press secretary Peskov announced that the parade on Red Square will still take place, and that the drone attack will not influence the plans of the Russian leadership in any way. As for the damage inflicted, according to the economic services of the Kremlin, two copper sheets got burned on the dome of the Kremlin Senate. Most likely they have already been replaced, so no reminders of the incident remain.

At the same time, different versions of how the drones could have infiltrated the heart of the country have emerged. The gist is as follows: The drones were seen but no one reacted – and in the end that was the right approach, since, as mentioned above, only two copper sheets got damaged, so tragic consequences were avoided.

However, for now nothing is known about the type of drones, nor about their country of origin, nor about the characteristics of the explosive device they carried. But a criminal case has been opened – the investigation is underway, and our special services are at work. So, perhaps soon we will dot all the i’s.

In turn, Peskov, summarizing the difficult day, blamed the U.S. for organizing this crime. The U.S. had planned it all and coordinated the actions of Zelenskyy and his team.

Washington swiftly and even harshly denied its involvement in what happened. In general, our former Western partners reacted calmly – as if saying, first we need to get to the root of this. Other actors – different analysts, experts and research institutes – even doubted that the events developed as the Russian side described. They didn’t see proof of Ukrainian involvement.

Other countries, which are not in the Western bloc, let’s say, are also not in any rush to draw final conclusions.

For example, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China called for Moscow and Kyiv not to escalate the situation nor take it to extremes. And, of course, we have to note the interview of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken with The Washington Post. He said he’d like to receive some more information first. Answering the question of whether the U.S. supports the strikes within Russian territory, the head of the U.S. State Department let everyone know that such decisions are the responsibility of Ukraine, which by itself chooses the strategy for its territorial defense.

Now let’s touch on the further consequences of this in Russia and the world. We can probably suppose that two burned copper sheets are not a reason for a world war. If we talk about real actions, for now decisions are being made to ban drone flights on the level of regional authorities; in particular, Moscow has already taken that step. Perhaps the ban will be introduced on a federal level. We have to develop our technology to prevent situations such as this, which is also being discussed. Otherwise, for now everything remains on the level of threatening statements. Most likely, the authorities are stalling to evaluate the situation.