Ukraine’s drone attack on Russia’s long-range bombers was unprecedented, not that you’d know it from reading the Russian papers. Nor from watching the news bulletins here.
Monday’s front pages were dominated by photos of the wreckage of a road bridge collapsing on to a passenger train in the Bryansk region, after it was blown up late on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, the flagship talk show on state TV here on Monday morning didn’t even mention the attack. Instead, there was just a breathless build-up to the latest round of peace talks in Istanbul.
The lack of visual coverage of the drone attack is partly because of the sensitivities around publishing images of Russian military infrastructure.
But I think it’s also because the Kremlin wants to play down the assault, which was a hugely embarrassing breach of Russia’s defences.
So where the attack is mentioned in the papers, it’s done in a way to reinforce Moscow’s narrative – that Ukraine is the aggressor out to derail the peace process.
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Ukraine targets Russian military aircraft
The Izvestia newspaper, for example, describes it as a terrorist attack, and says it “calls into question Kyiv’s readiness for de-escalation”.
There’s no reference to the scale of the damage, and there’s certainly no sense of alarm.
It’s a similar vibe on the streets of Moscow, where we meet Irina. She believes the reports of the attack are “exaggerated”.
“These planes are very old and hardly anyone needs them,” she says.
Irina believes the reports of Ukraine’s drone attack are ‘exaggerated’
Another passer-by, called Vladimir, says he trusts his namesake Mr Putin to respond when the time is right.
“This must be done systematically, confidently, and without any kind of nervous breakdowns, or any shows of soul,” he says.
Vladimir says he trusts the Russian president to respond in the right way
There is plenty of soul on show on social media, though, where Russia’s influential military bloggers are calling for a rapid retaliation.
One popular channel, called Dva Mayora or “Two Majors”, even said it was “a reason to launch nuclear strikes on Ukraine”.
Others are directing their anger at Russia’s military command, accusing the leadership of complacency for storing the planes out in the open.
Read more:
Putin humiliated by ‘Russia’s Pearl Harbor’ – analysis
Zelenskyy: Strikes will go ‘in history books’
A map showing the location of the Russian airbases targeted in drone strikes by Ukraine
It all served to overshadow the latest round of peace talks in Istanbul, where the only concrete outcome was another prisoner exchange and the return of 6,000 dead soldiers from each side.
And if anything, the outlook for peace now is even more bleak than it was before the talks began. That’s because Russia has now presented its blueprint for a settlement, and it seemingly offers no sign of compromise at all.
According to Russian media reports, the document is a list of Moscow’s maximalist demands, including neutrality for Ukraine, limits to its army, surrender of territory and the lifting of sanctions. Only then, Russia says, would it agree to end the war.
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The Kremlin itself still hasn’t commented on the drone attack – a silence that speaks volumes. Can you imagine Downing Street doing the same if something similar happened in the UK?
There will undoubtedly be repercussions at some point, both externally and internally. So, despite the talk being of peace at the talks in Turkey, the mood is still very much one of war.
This story originally appeared on Skynews
