A drone hits a Moscow skyscraper amid Putin's psychosis over Ukrainian attacks

MoscowIt was the last thing Vladimir Putin wanted in the most important week of the year. A Ukrainian drone has impacted an emblematic luxury residential skyscraper just a few kilometers from the Kremlin. The incident, which has not caused casualties, takes place five days before the Victory Day military parade, the global showcase of Russian military might. For the first time in almost two decades, neither tanks nor missiles will be exhibited because security cannot be guaranteed, and Putin, in full psychosis over a possible attack by Kyiv, has even desperately proposed a truce of a few hours to ensure that Volodymyr Zelensky does not spoil the party.

The Mosfilm Tower is not just any target. It can be seen from almost any point in the southwest of the Russian capital. Among its residents are the Minister of Agriculture and deputies of United Russia, and it is located in a neighborhood where many embassies are situated. “We heard the hum of an engine and, suddenly, a very loud explosion,” explains to ARA a neighbor who lives on the same street where the drone crashed. The aircraft only caused some damage on one of the upper floors and the fright of the residents. But the impact has been symbolic. If one of Putin's main objectives was that the war should not reach Moscow, the fact that a Ukrainian drone has hit a skyscraper where not ordinary people, but part of the Russian elite live, is alarming for the Kremlin leader.

And even more so when this happens on the eve of May 9th. The fear is such that the Russian president has ordered that only columns of soldiers will parade through Red Square on Saturday. The official excuse is prevention against “terrorist threats”, but the reality is that he fears an attack by Kyiv against the warehouses where the armored vehicles and missiles should be accumulated on the eve of the celebration commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

Tricks and crossed threats

As he did last year, Putin has proposed a unilateral ceasefire coinciding with the holiday, convinced that Zelensky will have no choice but to respect it if he doesn't want trouble with Donald Trump. The Russian Ministry of Defense has threatened "a massive retaliatory missile strike" against the center of Kyiv if the Ukrainian army violates the truce and has warned civilians and diplomats to leave the city "immediately." Zelensky has responded by proposing a cessation of hostilities starting at midnight on Tuesday to Wednesday, with the aim of making it clear whether Russia truly wants to end the war or is only interested in celebrating its holiday in peace. "We believe that human life has incomparably greater value than the celebration of any anniversary," said the Ukrainian leader.

However, not even a truce seems enough to appease Putin's nervousness. The attack on the skyscraper shows that the powerful rings of air defense systems surrounding the capital are not infallible. Therefore, in recent hours, more soldiers than usual have been seen, armed with machine guns, on the towers and bridges near the Kremlin, scanning the sky for enemy drones. Back in 2025, around this time, the administration had to ask its workers to stand guard on the rooftops of public buildings, with binoculars, in case they detected any unmanned vehicles.

Telephone companies have also begun to warn customers that mobile internet will not work in Moscow, and in some cases neither will SMS messages, from May 5 to 9. A measure that technology experts insist is ineffective in stopping Ukrainian devices, but which authorities have recently become accustomed to imposing without regard for any danger. Furthermore, at airports near the capital, such as Sheremetyevo, the zeal in checking travelers' luggage has been so great that significant collapses have occurred in the terminals.

Various media outlets reported this Monday that Putin's psychosis is not only explained by the fear that the May 9th parade will be underwhelming, but because, for several months, he has feared being the victim of an assassination. It is not at all common for the Russian leader himself to admit that Ukrainian attacks are becoming more constant, as he did last week, after the repeated bombings in the port of Tuapse, in the Black Sea. Air defense systems are overwhelmed and cannot protect Russian cities. In 2008, when Putin incorporated tanks and missiles into the Victory Day parade, he explained that he was doing so to show that they were "capable of defending their citizens." Eighteen years later, everything indicates that he is not only incapable of defending his citizens, but also neither the tanks nor the missiles.