Ukrainian Drone Hits Moscow Tower as Kremlin Scales Back Victory Day Parade

A Ukrainian drone struck the Dom na Mosfilmovskoy luxury residential complex in southwestern Moscow before dawn, damaging the facade of an upscale tower across from Mosfilm studio and leaving no injuries. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said five drones targeted the capital overnight, while Russia’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted 117 Ukrainian drones nationwide, including in the greater Moscow region.

The hit landed in one of Moscow’s more prominent residential districts, a few kilometers from the Kremlin and near Mosfilmovskaya Street. The damage was visible on the high-rise’s exterior, underscoring how Ukraine’s drone campaign has reached beyond military sites and into wealthy urban neighborhoods that once seemed insulated from the war.

The strike came as the Kremlin prepared a drastically reduced Victory Day parade for May 9, one of the state’s biggest public spectacles. For the first time in almost two decades, the Red Square event will proceed without military vehicles or heavy weaponry. The last parade with no military vehicles was in 2007.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the change was tied to Ukrainian drone attacks and what he called a “terrorist threat.” Russian officials also described the scaled-back event as a response to the “current operational situation.” In previous years, the parade has featured tanks, armored vehicles, missile launchers and World War II-era hardware, turning the celebration into a carefully staged display of military power.

This year’s pared-down format, which will also exclude military schools, cadet corps and the hardware column, reflects how the war has begun to intrude on Russia’s own rituals of victory. The timing is especially charged. Victory Day commemorates the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany, and the parade on Red Square has long served as a centerpiece of Vladimir Putin’s political image.

Putin has proposed a ceasefire for May 9, but it remains unclear whether Kyiv will agree. Ukraine has meanwhile intensified its drone campaign against Russian energy infrastructure, air bases and other targets, while Russian air defenses continue to face mounting strain. Some observers and military commentators have suggested that fears of a Ukrainian strike may have helped push the Kremlin to scale back the parade.

The contrast was stark: a damaged tower in an upscale Moscow district on one side, a reduced military spectacle on the other. Together, they showed how the war is increasingly colliding with Russian domestic life, elite spaces and the state’s most choreographed symbols of control.