Muscovites Can’t Believe Ukrainians have Succeeded on Their Own in Attacking Them with Drones and Instead Blame Domestic Enemies, Arkhipova Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 19 – The drone attacks on Moscow have shaken Muscovites, Aleksanxdr Arkhipova says, because many of them can’t believe that the Ukrainians have the ability to make such attacks and that Russia can’t defend against them and so they are instead telling each other that the attackers must be enemies from within Russia.

            The Russian anthropologist says that “it is far more comforting to explain the attacks away by claiming that Russian air defenses aren’t actually shoddy but that internal enemies, driven by suicidal urges, are actively guiding drones toward their own homes” (t.me/anthro_fun/4147 reposted at echofm.online/opinions/legenda-o-tajnyh-navodchikah-s-fonarikom).

            This urban legend, which recalls what happened in 1941 when the Germans first attacked Moscow, is now widespread. In addition to fear, it is also sparking some bitter jokes. One of the best has Moscow’s mayor Sergey Sobyanin declaring that his city “could impose sanctions on Russia if that country continues to drag the city into its military conflicts.”