How Russia is dealing with off-script realities of its war on Ukraine
CBC
Multiple drones reportedly flew across Russian territory this week, prompting comment from Moscow.
Officials blamed Ukraine, but claimed the incursions didn't cause any significant damage.
Between Monday night and Tuesday, four drones were said to have been seen in the border region of Belgorod and another in nearby Bryansk, while a different drone reportedly struck an oil refinery in Tuapse, according to The Associated Press. A separate drone crashed in Adygea, while another ended up in Gubastovo, much closer to Moscow.
These episodes, for which Ukraine has not claimed credit, seemingly marked more off-script moments for Russia during its ongoing, bloody and costly invasion of its neighbour.
Yet Russia doesn't call it a war, instead calling it a "special military operation" — a euphemism it has employed throughout the conflict.
Russia watchers say Moscow's narrative has a central tension — its message that everything is going according to plan being challenged by contradictory events that demand explanation.
"When it comes to drones, or rocket strikes, or the blowing up of the Crimea bridge a few months ago, this tension comes into play," said Stanislav Budnitsky, a Russia media politics expert at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.
Budnitsky said the way that Russia's Channel One, a state broadcaster, described the recent drone attacks is telling.
He watched a report about the drones on a nightly program. It lasted 30 seconds and was the fifth item shown to viewers that night.
The report emphasized the fact the attacks failed and that "they were all intercepted."
The drone report was juxtaposed by a story about how effective the systems were that defend Russia, with particular focus on those capabilities in the parts of Ukraine it recently annexed.
"I don't think that's an accident that immediately followed the report that some drones did make it to Russia," said Budnitsky.
He also noted news item on the drones was brief— a report about chess that aired later in the broadcast was given twice the time.
Ukraine has proven its ability to strike targets in Russian-held regions such as Crimea, but also in Russia itself.