A Dangerous Escalation
Regardless of who was behind the drone attacks on the Kremlin, there can be no doubt that this event will lead to further escalation between Moscow and the West.
The last time the Kremlin was attacked was in 1942 during the Second World War when Nazi forces were bombing targets in and around Moscow. Over the past week, it was attacked once more. Early in the morning on Wednesday, May 3, two separate drone attacks occurred over the Kremlin, killing no one and causing very little structural damage. In the aftermath of the mysterious incident, Russia and Ukraine have taken to playing the blame game, accusing each other of orchestrating the attacks.
Moscow asserted that the drone attacks were an attempted assassination attempt by Ukraine directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine, for its part, fervently denies any involvement. “I can repeat this message. I think it will be clear to everyone. We don’t attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory, we defend our cities and villages,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said from Helsinki, Finland.
Zelensky’s assertion that Ukraine’s military operations are merely confined to within Ukraine’s borders is patently false. Just recently, Ukraine shelled Suzemka, a Russian village near the border of Ukraine, reportedly killing four civilians. In December of last year, a Ukrainian drone attack struck two military bases deep inside the Russian mainland. On April 23, a failed Ukrainian drone laden with explosives, supposedly to kill Putin, crashed near Moscow. Additionally, the August 2022 assassination of Darya Dugina, the daughter of Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin, and the recent cafe bombing in St. Petersburg that killed Russian writer Vladlen Tatarsky are all examples of Ukrainian operations that took place within the borders of Russia.
Naturally, when remembering that Ukraine and Russia are currently at war, one would instantly attribute the blame to the regime in Kyiv. Reactions and statements by the Russian government condemn Ukraine, and more broadly, the Biden administration for the recent attacks. “Attempts to disown this, both in Kyiv and in Washington, are, of course, absolutely ridiculous. We know very well that decisions about such actions, about such terrorist attacks, are made not in Kyiv but in Washington," Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Meanwhile, the Biden White House disparages claims that it was involved. “Obviously it’s a ludicrous claim. The United States had nothing to do with this,” national security advisor John Kirby said in an interview with CNN. “We don’t even know exactly what happened here, but I can assure you the United States had no role in it whatsoever.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on the other hand, suggested that Ukraine has the right to make decisions to attack government leaders inside Russia, despite the fact that the U.S. is supplying Ukraine with an astronomical amount of weaponry and aid.
“A False Flag”
Since the outset of the attacks on the Kremlin, numerous former intelligence officials have come out in full chorus labeling the incident as a “false flag” operation that was perpetrated by Moscow while offering no evidence to back up this claim. In other words, Russia attacked itself just as it did by blowing up its own pipeline, according to the plethora of liars in intelligence.
Former CIA Director Leon Panetta said on CNN that the event “smells like a false flag operation on the part of the Russians” as well as saying the attacks “follow the Putin playbook.” On Fox News, former General Jack Keane also portrayed the Kremlin attack as a false flag, claiming that because there wasn’t any significant damage done, it didn’t “fit Ukraine’s pattern of behavior.” Trump’s former national security advisor Robert O’Brien similarly agreed, adding that the Kremlin drone attack "has the hallmarks of a Russian false flag operation.” (It should be noted that Leon Panetta was one of the many former intelligence officials who signed the bogus letter claiming that the Hunter Biden laptop story was “Russian disinformation.”)
Moreover, the officials implied that Russia has much to gain from staging this attack because the Kremlin is in need of manufacturing more support for the Russian war effort. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin carries with him broad support from the Russian public for his ongoing war in Ukraine. If anything, they’re annoyed that he hasn’t gone far enough with the “special military operation.” Ultimately, Russia has more than enough support to carry on its war in Ukraine, and it’s absurd to claim they need to “manufacture” more approval from its populace.
Just as they were proven to be in the wrong when they erroneously asserted that Russia blew up its own pipeline, there is a very good chance that they will be proven wrong on this incident in the near future. The attack on the Kremlin does follow a pattern of Ukraine’s behavior and it is highly likely Kyiv was the culprit. With the Nord Stream sabotage, it was discovered months later that the U.S. conducted the attacks. The Kremlin drones, if they were found out to be orchestrated by the Biden administration, would mark a terrifying escalation between Moscow and the West.
The Dangers of Miscommunications and Further Escalation
On Friday, May 5, the Romanian Defense Ministry said that an aircraft from the Polish Border Guard was intercepted by a Russian fighter jet while flying over the Black Sea. According to the statement, four NATO fighter aircraft were on standby “prepared to intervene at any moment." Thankfully, no further action ensued.
This is yet another incident that could very well have led to a broader conflict between NATO and Russia, a conflict that could easily evolve into a nuclear confrontation. As a result of the recent Discord Leaks, many similar occurrences have been brought to light. In November 2022, a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone was shot at by a Russian air defense system in Syria. Earlier, in September, a Russian pilot operating a jet miscalculated orders from the ground and fired at a manned British surveillance aircraft. Luckily, the missile malfunctioned and wasn’t fired properly.
Imagine if that missile was fired properly. What would have emanated afterward? Truly a frightening thought.
Time to Take a Step Back and Pursue Detente
The more intimately the U.S. and its allies are integrated into the war in Ukraine, the greater likelihood there is that these events will repeat themselves. Hence, a drastically increased chance of a direct military confrontation between Washington and Moscow, an outcome that should be rigorously avoided. While all this is transpiring, there are no discernible efforts at diplomacy from the Biden administration to ease tensions.
The attacks on the Kremlin, regardless of who perpetrated them, constitute an immense escalation in the current war between Moscow and Kyiv. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev promptly called for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “physical elimination” in the wake of the attacks, along with other Russian officials calling for the total destruction of the regime in Kyiv as revenge for the supposed assassination attempt on Putin.
Russian forces, with Wagner at the front, are very close to fully conquering Ukraine’s eastern city of Bakhmut. Of course, they would love nothing more than to accomplish this task in the days surrounding Victory Day on May 9, a major Russian holiday that celebrates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany and commemorates the over twenty million deaths the Russians suffered in World War Two.
Once Bakhmut falls, it should be of vast importance to the United States to finally negotiate an end to the war and pursue peaceful relations with their counterparts in Moscow. The recent attacks on the Kremlin make concerted efforts at diplomacy and dialogue all the more important between the two conflicting sides. In the end, a resolution of that sort is unlikely, as the Biden administration has thus far produced no efforts to achieve peace since the war commenced in February 2022.
The U.S. is doing exactly what they want to do, cause chaos everywhere!! Ukraine and Russia are both run by corrupt politicians-same as our own government. There is chaos everywhere in the world because it’s hard to find POLITICIANS or citizens with enough backbone or morals to stand up for their country. Enough of all the lies.
Regardless of who is to blame for these deals it becomes more evident every day that it is time for peace talks and resolution to the stupidity involved in killing innocents and destroying peoples homes, and dead soldiers on both sides.