As Ukraine Drones Rain Down on Russia, Putin Feels Heat

Russia's capital is again under drone fire, and this time President Vladimir Putin is publicly acknowledging the strain. Moscow's mayor said on Telegram that more than 60 drones aimed at the city were shot down overnight, part of what Russia's Defense Ministry described as a wider barrage in which 419 drones were destroyed over Moscow and Crimea, reports the New York Times. A 6-month-old child was killed when a drone hit a home in a town about 60 miles from the capital, adds the Kyiv Post. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility, but President Volodymyr Zelensky has framed such long-range strikes as "long-range sanctions" meant to force Russia to end the war and "bring the reality of the war back to Russia," pointing to fuel shortages and lines at gas stations as refineries and depots are hit.

Putin, in a state TV interview, conceded the attacks are "creating problems" and causing "certain shortages" of fuel, while insisting they are not critical and that Russian strikes inside Ukraine are "far more powerful" and "more destructive." The latest assault comes as Russia inches forward in eastern Ukraine, pursuing what Putin again called the "final liberation of Donbas and Novorossiya," even as Ukraine's drone swarms underline his difficulty in shielding Russians from the conflict.