Drone Attack On Putin: US In Defensive Mode

Koushik Das

May 11

'Drone Attack on the Kremlin puts Us on the edge of the Abyss'
In the early morning hours (local time) of May 3, 2023, two Ukrainian drones, approaching the official residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, were neutralised by personnel onsite before causing damage. However, the incident has catapulted the proxy war of NATO against Russia to new heights. The Russians made clear, from the very first statement on, that they held the Ukrainian authorities responsible for "this terrorist action and an attempt against the Russian President". However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated on May 4: "Such decisions - choice of targets, choice of means, etc. - are dictated to Kiev from Washington DC."

From the US capital, officials rushed one after the other to assure Moscow that the Joe Biden Administration was not involved in any way in the attacks, while the hard core of the War Party asserts that the attacks were staged by President Putin himself. Peskov dismissed all such denials by the Ukrainian and US officials as laughable. In any case, the Kremlin made clear that Russia would respond in appropriate manner, when the time comes, indicating that a counter-attack would not take place before the celebrations on May 9 of the Great Victory over Nazism.

To the Americans who might caution Moscow not to over-react, the Russian Ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, posed a pertinent question: "How would the Americans react, if a drone hit the White House, the Capitol or the Pentagon? The answer is obvious for any politician, as well as for an average citizen: the punishment will be harsh and inevitable. Russia will respond to this insolent and presumptuous terrorist attack."

A similar point on the targeting of the White House by anyone was raised on separate occasions by Larry Johnson and Scott Ritter, the two members of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS). Nonetheless, in Johnson's view, President Putin will remain "cool and collected", and won't lash out. Among the retaliatory measures that various sources believe Moscow could take are an escalation of the offensive against Ukraine, increasing human losses, and possible strikes on the Presidential Palace and the Defence Ministry in Kiev.

How Beijing will respond to this latest provocation is cause for much concern in the West. Insight into the answer was given in an unsigned Opinion Column published in the May 4 edition of the semi-official Global Times, headlined 'Drone Attack Crosses Tacit Red Line between Russia, Ukraine, Further Escalating Tensions'. The op-ed concludes: "Moscow has indeed been given a 'surprise' and it will certainly respond. Russia's designation of these actions as a planned terrorist attack will cause significant changes in the nature of the entire military conflict, inevitably leading to further tensions on the battlefield."

Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Ryabkov warned in a May 5 television interview that "We are working on preventing a fall of our relations with the US into the abyss of an open armed conflict. We are already on the verge of this abyss." And that is, indeed, the crux of the matter. The world has been brought to the edge of a Thermonuclear War, and yet, Western leaders continue to escalate the war efforts, while dissuading Ukraine from seeking a settlement. And, as their empire crumbles, they remain above all oblivious to the need to change policies… and fast.