Small strikes, big ambitions

A rescue team working at a university building struck by a Russian missile in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. — © 2023 The New York Times Company

DRONES have exploded over the gilded domes of the Kremlin. They have hit strategic Russian air bases hundreds of kilometres from Ukraine. They have struck a Moscow tower that houses several government ministry offices, including the one responsible for the military-industrial complex.

And they have landed a stone’s throw from one of the main Russian military headquarters, where officers sitting in large situation rooms with vast screens on its walls directly oversee and manage the war in Ukraine.