Russian Propaganda Did Not Pay Much Attention To The Largest Attack On Moscow And The Region
- 17.05.2026, 17:43
The largest strike by Ukrainian drones since the beginning of the war was not noticed by propagandists.
The largest strike by Ukrainian drones on the Moscow region since the beginning of the war, which took place on the night of May 17, received scant coverage on federal TV channels. As "Agency" pointed out, on Channel One, Russia-1 and NTV, the anchors spent about a minute on the subject, presenting the event as having just happened, despite the fact that there was enough time to prepare detailed stories.
Instead of a detailed account of the consequences of the attack, the focus of the broadcast shifted to the Russian army's "response." Thus, in a 12:00 p.m. newscast, Channel One reported that Russia was "smashing military facilities in Ukraine's rear areas." "The infrastructure of the AFU is on fire," the program began with the caption "Response to attacks".
TASS, covering the incident, wrote that in March 2025, a larger attack in terms of the number of drones was carried out on the capital region (at the time, Sobyanin reported 74 UAVs shot down "on the approach to Moscow"). However, as the "Agency" notes, it did not follow from the Russian Defense Ministry's report that all those drones were flying specifically at Moscow.
In the meantime, the Elma Technopark in Zelenograd (an electronic and optical industry enterprise), Solnechnogorskaya loading station in the village of Durykino (a large oil product storage and transshipment facility) and Sheremetyevo Airport, where a fire broke out near the third runway, came under drone attack on May 17. The attack also affected the Moscow oil refinery in Kapotna and the Raduga IBC in Dubna, which develops cruise missiles.
The governor of the Moscow region, Andrey Vorobyov, said at least three people had been killed and 17 others injured. The Indian embassy in Moscow later clarified that an Indian citizen was among the dead. Residential buildings were damaged in Khimki, Krasnogorsk, Dedovsk, Naro-Fominsk district and Sergiev Posad, as well as in Zelenograd. More than 200 flights were canceled or delayed at Sheremetyevo, and residents of the Moscow region complained on social media about the lack of alerts when the raid occurred.
Advisor to Ukraine's Defense Minister Sergei Sternenko called the attack on the Moscow region "the most large-scale since the beginning of the war," promising that "there will be even larger ones next." Robert Brovdi (Madyar), commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Force, posted a photo of the drones with the caption "Moscow never sleeps" and wrote: "The odds have been leveled: the one-sided subscription for a quiet life in and around Patryki has been canceled."