Christine Drews Sieger
Russian commentators have called for punishment after citizens shared videos of Moscow’s largest drone attack since the war began.
Following last night’s large-scale drone attack on Moscow, several prominent Russian commentators have sharply criticized citizens who posted videos of the incident on social media.
According to The Moscow Times, cited by Onet, several pro-Kremlin commentators believe that the footage could help Ukraine assess the effectiveness of the attacks.
In their view, the authorities should therefore take action against those who publish such material.
The debate follows the largest drone attack on Moscow since the beginning of the war. Authorities say that nearly 200 drones were intercepted in the area surrounding the Russian capital.
Calls for Punishment
TV host Armen Gasparyan was among those who reacted most strongly. He suggested that authorities use technological tools to identify the individuals behind the recordings and investigate their involvement more closely.
According to him, the footage quickly spread beyond Russia and could be exploited by Ukrainian actors. According to The Moscow Times, he also called for harsh interrogation methods.
Television personality Vladimir Solovyov likewise demanded consequences for those who filmed and shared footage of the attacks.
Solovyov argued that sharing such recordings should carry serious legal consequences.
Praises Air Defenses
At the same time, several war correspondents and military bloggers have highlighted the efforts of Russian air defense units. Their focus has been on the number of drones intercepted before reaching their targets.
Commentators close to the Russian military describe the air defense system as increasingly effective, even though some drones struck targets in and around Moscow. Several have emphasized that the scale of the attack was unusually large.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that air defense forces detected and shot down 194 drones in the area surrounding the capital, according to The Moscow Times.
Authorities said an oil refinery was hit, while fires also broke out at several buildings due to falling debris. A total of 17 people were injured, including two children.
Drones Play a Major Role
The attack on Moscow is part of a broader trend in which Ukraine has increasingly used drones to strike targets deep inside Russia.
We previously reported on an incident in early June in which an oil terminal in St. Petersburg and a military factory in the Tambov region were among the targets attacked.
At the same time, the drone war has expanded significantly in scale, with both Russia and Ukraine increasingly using unmanned aerial vehicles to conduct attacks far from the front line.
Several experts point out that videos of attacks can have intelligence value, which may help explain the strong reactions of Russian propagandists.
Why Attack Footage Matters
The reactions to the shared videos also reflect how modern warfare is no longer confined to the battlefield.
According to TIME magazine, videos and images from the war have become an important tool for open-source intelligence (OSINT) analysts, who use publicly available material to verify events, map attacks, and analyze military movements.
This may help explain why the publication of footage from drone attacks has sparked concern among Russian commentators.
Sources: The Moscow Times, Onet, TIME
