Ukraine launches massive attack on Moscow and war escalates

MoscowA van pick-up Standing in the middle of the road in front of one of the Kremlin towers. Above, a mobile air defense system is pointed at the Moscow sky, and on the shore, two Russian soldiers are scanning the horizon. The unusual image from early Monday morning demonstrates the extraordinary nature of the Ukrainian attack on the Russian capital: 40 drones shot down over the Moscow region, 34 of which were heading towards the city, in the second largest bombardment suffered by Muscovites since the start of the war.

Although, unlike the usual attacks on Kiev, the wave of drones targeting the Russian capital has caused neither casualties nor damage, the disruption to the daily lives of its inhabitants has become a weapon for Ukraine. Several airports have had to temporarily restrict their operations and internet connection cuts have been implemented.

The escalation comes after the White House's refusal to deliver Tomahawk missiles. in Ukraine, and it probably didn't please Donald Trump, who had already warned Volodymyr Zelensky in July that he "shouldn't target Moscow."

But it's not just Kiev that's raising the stakes; the Kremlin is too. If last week Vladimir Putin warned Trump that his response to the use of long-range missiles would be "very forceful, if not overwhelming," this weekend the Russian president went further with the much-hyped test of a nuclear missile "unique in the world."

This is the Burevestnik (Russian for "storm petrell," a small seabird), capable of carrying a nuclear warhead "twenty times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb" and also powered by atomic propulsion. According to the chief of the Russian general staff, Valery Gerasimov, the missile successfully traveled 14,000 kilometers during almost fifteen hours of flight. Experts claim it would have unlimited range and, therefore, be able to more easily evade missile defenses. In 2019, at least five Russian nuclear specialists died in a test of this missile in the White Sea, and the only successful test so far had been in 2023.

"We must determine the possible methods of use and begin preparing the infrastructure to deploy this weapon in our armed forces." The development of the missile is a new signal in the United States: it was announced in 2018 in response to Washington's withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and NATO expansion, and it is the first serious nuclear test since Trump's return to the White House.

Trump, fed up with Putin

The movement has not pleased the American president at all either, tired of seeing his people Mediation efforts in Ukraine are unsuccessful and both sides are escalating the conflictThe US leader called the test "inappropriate" and warned Putin that he "should end this war, which was supposed to last a week and has already been going on for almost four years, instead of testing missiles." He added: "They know that we have a nuclear submarine, the largest in the world, off their coast; in other words, it doesn't need to travel 14,000 kilometers."

The Kremlin responded that the test is of "vital importance" and is only intended to "guarantee Russia's security," especially in the context of the "militaristic mood" of European countries, which it accused of being "hysterical, Russophobic, aggressive, and belligerent." According to Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov, "nothing can strain relations between Russia and the United States."

But the truth is that Moscow's efforts to soften relations with Washington are bearing no fruit. The desperate visit to the United States by the most Americanist of Russian negotiators, Kiril Dmitriev, has had a rather poor outcome. The director of the Russian sovereign wealth fund tried to show the Kremlin's friendlier side, but was only received by Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, with whom he maintains very good relations, and one of the Republican congresswomen most resistant to military support for Ukraine, Anna Paulina Luna. Furthermore, Treasury Secretary Scott Bennett called Dmitriev a "propagandist."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov laments the "radical" change in the White House following the Alaska summit in August. He believes that Trump understood the need for "long-term peace" at the time and that if he is now insisting again on an "immediate ceasefire," it is due to "enormous and incredible pressure" from European "hawks." However, the minister insisted that Putin is prepared to accept the US "concept" of peace, even though the Kremlin has so far refused at all costs to halt the fighting on the current front lines, as proposed by the US president.