Drone attack and eyewitnesses: how the Russians used the drone attack in the suburbs of Moscow for propaganda

The drone attack in the suburbs of Moscow was used by the Russian mass media for ordinary propaganda. According to experts, in this case the Kremlin planned to influence the domestic audience. Thus, they continue to conduct special information operations to divert attention and intensify mobilization in the Russian Federation.

Russian propagandists actively highlighted the topic of another drone attack in the Moscow region with the aim of increasing the internal mobilization of the Russian population.

Russian Telegram channels actively wrote about the drone attack near Moscow to show that their war affects everyone. Like, they started it for a reason, because the enemy is already directly attacking military units or airfields. It is important for them to strengthen internal mobilization. It remains very important for the military leadership of the Russian Federation.

Another purpose of increasing the hype around another attack may be an attempt to demonstrate the strength of Russian air defenses. “They said, look at the Russians, all the drones were shot down. This is an attempt to remind that the Russians are living in a war,” he added.

The political scientist draws attention to the fact that Telegram channels actively distributed videos with eyewitnesses of drone attacks, as well as photos of the wreckage of downed drones. 

“Why exactly is this propaganda? They actively emphasize the danger and show that despite all this, the protection system worked perfectly. The fact that Russian propagandists began to spread it so quickly speaks of an instruction from the goverment. The video they recorded with local residents add a certain expression. Probably, this was discussed with these people beforehand. By the way, they have already tried to spread similar messages in this format several times,” he added.

Moscow's reaction to another drone attack

We will remind you that on July 4, Russian propagandists and Telegram channels wrote about explosions in the area of ​​the villages of Valueve, Akinshyne and Kryvoshein in New Moscow.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that the Russian anti-aircraft defense shot down five drones that were flying in the direction of the Russian capital.

According to the report of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, air defense destroyed four UAVs in the territory of New Moscow, and another drone was suppressed by means of radio-electronic warfare and crashed in the territory of the Odintsovsky district of the Moscow region.

In the village of Kryvosheino, one of the downed drones — or its fragments — fell on a farm building, causing a fire. Previously, none of the people were injured.

Moscow Mayor Serhiy Sobyanin also commented on the attack. He did not announce the number of drones, but assured that all of them “were repulsed by air defense forces, all detected UAVs were eliminated.”