Putin is in trouble as the war finally comes to Moscow

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Vladimir Putin is facing mounting pressure over Ukraine’s escalating attacks on Moscow, which he has been able to largely insulate from the war until now.

Residents of the city describe widespread alarm and criticism of authorities after a series of damaging strikes over recent weeks that the regime has appeared helpless to prevent. Even loyalist media are joining a rising chorus of dissent. The rising threat could force the Russian President to consider exit strategies from the war, analysts believe.

The strikes are a blow to the Kremlin, which has sought to protect Moscow from more than four years of war. Army recruitment and casualties have disproportionately fallen on provinces, prisons and foreign fighters to spare the capital.

Shorts Scroll to previous short Scroll to next short What we know about Married at First Sight UK rape allegations Will we see a heatwave this bank holiday weekend? The average income of British retirees revealed 1 2 3 4 TV NEWS What we know about Married at First Sight UK rape allegations Who would put themselves through marrying a stranger on national TV? (Photo: Channel 4) Channel 4 has removed all seasons of Married at First Sight UK from its platforms following “very serious allegations” made against some former stars.

Two women have alleged that they were raped during the filming of the show. A third has alleged a non-consensual sex act. 1 2 3 4 The allegations One woman alleged in a BBC Panorama programme that her chosen husband raped her and threatened her with an acid attack.

A second alleged that she was also raped by her husband. She also claims she told Channel 4 and independent producer CPL before broadcast, but the show still aired.

A third woman alleged that her onscreen husband engaged in a non-consensual sex act. MEDIA Channel 4 cuts back disgraced Mandelson from Blair documentary 3 min read 1 2 3 4 How has Channel 4 responded? Channel 4’s removal of the show from its platforms follows an external review launched in April into the welfare of participants. The broadcaster was presented with serious allegations “against a small number of past contributors, allegations that we understand those contributors have denied,” it said in a statement. The channel said “prompt and appropriate action was taken” related to concerns over welfare protocols. NEWS Married at First Sight brides 'were raped' prompting Channel 4 to remove episodes 2 min read Analysis The new BBC plan to axe channels and overhaul licence fee 3 min read 1 2 3 4 What do MPs say? Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage’s comments have sparked fury among the cruise industry (Photo: Getty) ‘Deeply shocking’ Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport committee, said the allegations were “deeply shocking”. ‘Horrifying’ The Conservative MP said the premise of the show, which sees single people “marry” strangers who they meet on their mock wedding day, was “horrifying”. The new series of Married at First Sight starts this week on Channel 4 (Photo: CPL Production and Channel 4/ Indigo Wild Studio/Simon Johns) Sheffield City Region’s Labour Mayor Dan Jarvis and local council leaders announced that the Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick had confirmed he would work with them to devolve powers from Westminster (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) ‘Deeply concerning’ Labour security minister Dan Jarvis said the allegations were “deeply concerning”. 1 2 3 4 Will we see a heatwave this bank holiday weekend? Britons have been told to prepare for hot weather this bank holiday weekend, with some parts of the country set to see temperatures rise as high as 28°C. A couple pour a glass of wine on Jubilee beach, Southend in June. Yellow heat health alerts were issued by the Met Office (Photo: John Keeble/Getty Images)

Read more 1 2 3 4 Which areas could get a heatwave? Caption: A person walks along The Queen’s Walk near Tower Bridge in London. Temperatures could reach 32C in parts of central and southern England on Friday and are expected to remain high into the weekend, with a yellow heat health alert in place for all regions in England until July 15. Picture date: Friday July 11, 2025. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire

28°C temperatures Temperatures could reach 28°C in the south-east of England on Friday, with conditions set to be mostly sunny and dry. Heatwave threshold Some places could see a heatwave on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A heatwave is three days in a row with temperatures at a regional threshold. (Photo: Olga Pankova/Getty). Caption: Spring flowers bloom in St James’s Park as temperatures in the capital are set to surge as high as 25 Degrees Celsius in London, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Most likely counties Herefordshire and Worcestershire appear most likely to hit the threshold, say forecasters. 1 2 3 4 Bank holiday showers Caption: People walk through the rain on Southbank in London. Weather warnings have been issued as Storm Barbara is expected to bring gale force winds and heavy showers to southern parts of the UK. PA Photo. Picture date: Wednesday October 21, 2020. See PA story WEATHER Barbara. Photo credit should read: Kirsty O’Connor/PA Wire

It’s not all good news: forecasters have warned that some parts of the country could see rain because of the humidity.

Some parts of Scotland, Wales and the west of England could see showers on Saturday. The south of England could get rain on Sunday. OPINION Our homes will hit 35°C – this is how to climate-proof your house 5 min read 1 2 3 4 What’s causing warm spell? Meteorologists said a change in the wind direction was behind the spike in temperatures ahead.

Wind had been blowing from the north during last week’s cold snap. South-westerly winds from the Atlantic have dominated at the start of this week. And later in the week, the wind from the south will bring warmer weather. Caption: A person struggles to hold onto their umbrella during strong wind in Birmingham. The Met Office has issued a “danger to life” rain weather warning in parts of Wales and South West England amid Storm Bram. Picture date: Tuesday December 9, 2025. PA Photo. An amber rain weather warning has been issued in parts of South Wales and the South West of England as the Met Office warned that some homes and businesses are likely to be flooded and potentially damaged, while some communities could be cut off due to flooded roads. Photo credit should read: Jacob King/PA Wire

Caption: A woman shades from the sun as she arrives at the Henley Royal Regatta, during warm weather, as temperatures continue to rise across Britain, in Henley-on-Thames, Britain, July 1, 2025. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

1 2 3 4 5 The average British retiree falls short of moderate lifestyle The typical pensioner in the UK does not have enough income to live comfortably, new research has found. ‘As a private renter now working part time, I am in a precarious situation and may have to rely on savings,’ says a reader (Photo: Alex Tihonov/Getty) Read more 1 2 3 4 5 What does average pensioner live on? £26,200 This is how much the average tax-paying pensioner between 65 and 69 lives on. This is according to an analysis of 2024 HMRC figures by AJ Bell. £22,700 This is how much the average tax-paying pensioner between 70 and 74 lives on. This is according to an analysis of 2024 HMRC figures by AJ Bell. 1 2 3 4 5 What you need for moderate lifestyle An individual pensioner needs £31,300 a year for a moderate standard of living, according to Retirement Living Standards research by Loughborough University. Some state pensioners will have their income protected from tax (Andrii Yalanskyi / 500px/Getty) The man is currently drawing a small defined benefit (DB) pension (Photo: SimpleImages/Getty) A pensioner couple need £43,100 a year to live to a moderate standard, the Retirement Living Standards research discovered. 1 2 3 4 5 The good news and bad news Average pensioner incomes fall “well short” of what the average Brit is hoping for, said Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at AJ Bell.

Women are even more stretched than men in retirement. Women aged 65 to 69 received an average of £23,000, while men received £29,600.

However, the standards are a “fairly blunt instrument”, said Coles, because they don’t take into account the income you are used to while you’re working. 1 2 3 4 5 Watch more from The i Paper @theipaper The Parliamentary Standards watchdog has launched a probe into the £5m ‘gift’ from businessman Christopher Harborne to Nigel Farage in 2024. A Reform UK spokesman said: “Mr Farage’s office is in communications with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. He has always been clear that this was a personal, unconditional gift and no rules were broken. We look forward to this being put to bed once and for all.” nigelfarage reformuk ukpolitics ♬ original sound – The i Paper – The i Paper

Ukraine fired more than 500 drones at Moscow over Saturday night in its largest assault on the city of the war, following a deadly Russian attack on Kyiv. The barrage killed three and injured 12, according to Russian authorities, as well as shutting down airports and hitting oil facilities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the attack as a sign that Ukraine’s rapidly advancing drones can now pierce the strongest enemy defences and even the balance of power after years of Russian strikes on Kyiv.

“The Moscow region is the most heavily saturated with Russian air defence systems,” he said. “Our long-range capabilities are significantly changing the situation.”

Attacks on Moscow continued this week with local authorities issuing drone alerts on Monday and Tuesday, and the threat is likely to escalate.

Kyiv says it will produce seven million drones this year, including dozens of long-range designs, and attacks could soon include home-made ballistic missiles. Ukrainian defence firm Fire Point said on Tuesday that its “Flamingo” model will be capable of striking Moscow within months.

Ukraine has developed a variety of long-range drones capable of hitting targets deep inside Russia (Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty)

Putin has sought to maintain a sense of normality in the capital despite the growing impact of the war, with public and cultural events continuing and no curfew imposed in Moscow. But the Russian leader signalled his concern about Ukraine’s long-range threat by seeking a ceasefire during a pared-down Victory Day parade earlier this month.

Andrei Soldatov, a Russian investigative journalist in exile, who covered the Kremlin and its security services, suggested the Russian leader had broken an unspoken contract with the urban elite. “The deal was, ‘We do not talk about the war and you keep us safe’. Obviously now this deal is broken,” he said. “This has an effect on public opinion.”

Moscow residents approached by The i Paper described mounting unease over the attacks. They spoke anonymously for safety reasons. A businessman who lives in the city suburbs, said there has been a “different atmosphere” over the past weeks, with many Muscovites “unsettled” by the threat. “For sure, people blame the authorities but it’s not often spoken about in public for obvious reasons,” he said.

Local authorities introduced an app warning of incoming fire last month, said one resident. But they added that air raid sirens often fail to function, adding to the sense of alarm. “Numerous drones have been in my area but no sirens.”

Another resident, who works in logistics, said fear is greatest on the outskirts of the city where air defences are weakest. “People are worried,” he said. “Drones are falling on their land and may kill.”

A translated guide for citizens in drone attacks distributed by the Russian government

Residents report that Moscow’s main airports, which also serve as connectors for locations across the country, are being shut down on a daily basis for hours at a time. Measures introduced to thwart attacks, such as internet blackouts and jamming of mobile signals, have proved unpopular and disruptive. One resident described long queues at cash points as mobile payment services failed.

Making the capital pay a price is key to Ukraine’s strategy to pressure Putin to end the war, said Ukrainian MP Oleksii Goncharenko. “For more than four years, Putin has worked hard to keep this war invisible to Muscovites. That bubble is central to his political model: the provinces fight and die, while the capital lives as if nothing is happening,” he said.

“Every Ukrainian drone that forces Sheremetyevo or Vnukovo [airports] to shut down cracks that model a little further and shifts the cost-benefit calculation inside the Kremlin.

“The surest way to make Putin reconsider his aggressive plans is to ensure that continuing the war becomes more dangerous for him than ending it.”

Kremlin-friendly media members have broken ranks to highlight the failure to deal with the drone threat.

After the attack on Saturday, journalist Pavel Zarubin asked Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov: “We have these powerful bombs…But so what? It seems that a nuclear power can be bitten.”

The Two Majors Telegram channel, one of Russia’s most popular military news outlets, accused the defence ministry of trying to cover up drone attacks by “only reporting successes”.

Moscow’s main airports, such as Sheremetyevo International, have been shut down by drone attacks (Photo: Pavel Bednyakov/AP)

Soldatov notes that Putin is not accountable to his public and has the option to increase repression in the short term. But growing signs of domestic discontent, from declining approval ratings to criticism from fashion bloggers, questions from his inner circle and limited progress on the battlefield, could force him to ponder exit strategies from the war.

“I think not immediately, because right now the sentiment is humiliation after 9 May [Victory Day] and the drone attacks on Moscow, so he needs to show he is responding to Ukraine,” he said. “It might take two or three months to realise it’s probably a good time to start thinking seriously about a ceasefire.”

Max Hess, a Eurasia analyst at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said Putin was unlikely to change his strategy in the near-term. But the growing Ukrainian threat, particularly to Moscow airports, could create openings for diplomacy.

“It increases Ukraine’s leverage in securing potential future energy or long-range weapon ceasefires, something Trump has pushed for but which have never held,” he said.

That leverage will only increase as Ukraine’s long-range weapons improve, said former Nato official Edward Hunter Christie, predicting this will impact Moscow’s ability to continue the war within a year. “Ukraine is increasingly developing new, long-range strike systems that are going to be more potent with stronger payloads, and harder to intercept than the long-range drones that Ukraine is currently using,” he said.

“One year from now, if the war is still ongoing, we will see much more decisive Ukrainian long-range strikes on targets across Western Russia. Strikes that cause considerably more material damage, and higher costs on the Russian economy and ability to conduct its war effort.”