Strikes have landed deep inside Russian territory, forcing airport closures and air alerts. Tension grows inside the Kremlin as critics speak out.
Putin’s persistent desire to hold a May 9 parade signals his disagreement with the fact: the war started against Ukraine has returned to Russian soil.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), analysts note that the impact of Ukrainian strikes is increasingly felt across various regions of Russia, even deep in the rear. Thus, on May 5, the Federal Air Transport Agency of Russia (Rosaviatsiya) simultaneously closed airports in 15 cities and imposed restrictions on the operation of all four Moscow airports due to drones. In the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, more than 2,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, for the first time in four years of full-scale war an air-raid alert was declared.
Key ISW findings
Russians are increasingly feeling the burden of military actions after more than four years of fighting: the death toll is approaching one percent of Russia’s total population, Russians are bearing greater financial costs of the war, and the Kremlin is tightening censorship and restricting mobile internet
– Institute for the Study of War (ISW)
War correspondents from Russia are increasingly criticizing the Kremlin and Putin himself for not acknowledging this reality. One war correspondent accused the Russian Defense Ministry of focusing more on the security of the May 9 parade than on protecting critical infrastructure.
The report notes that the Kremlin largely failed to shield itself from Ukrainian strikes in recent weeks, which indicates inadequate countermeasures to address problems that provoke discontent among Russians.
Putin refuses to acknowledge the reality of intensified Ukrainian strikes on major Russian cities deep in the rear, and as a result Russians are bearing the costs of the war more and more
– Institute for the Study of War (ISW)
According to VCIOM, Putin’s weekly rating, which is traditionally published by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion, did not appear on the site this time.
Overall, ISW analysts emphasize that intensified strikes on Russia’s deep rear pose new challenges before the Kremlin and require revisiting the strategy for protecting critical infrastructure and information management.