Russian Soldiers Are FLEEING Ukraine to Protect Moscow

The Military Show

Putin’s latest move may reveal more about Russia’s battlefield challenges than ever before. As Ukraine intensifies long-range drone strikes, reports indicate Russian air defense systems are being redeployed from occupied territories to protect Moscow and key strategic sites. In this video, we examine the reported redeployments, Ukraine’s evolving drone strategy, and what these developments could mean for the war’s future. Watch to the end, share your thoughts, and subscribe to The Military Show for more in-depth military analysis.  ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Putin Pulls 90 Air Defense Launchers From Frontlines 02:16 - Ukraine Drone Hits Moscow Refinery 16km From Kremlin 05:34 - Russian S-300 Missile Shortage Against Ukrainian Drones 08:36 - Putin Weakens Frontline Defenses to Protect Moscow 10:24 - Is Russia Falling Into Ukraine Strategic Drone Trap?  Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join  #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis #themilitaryshow  SOURCES / ATTRIBUTIONS: https://pastebin.com/kjA92Kr4

Transcript

00:00Imagine that you are a Russian soldier destined for the front lines in Ukraine.

00:04You're terrified as a new order comes in. Suddenly, there's light in the world again.

00:09You're not going to the front. You're heading to Moscow. The smile on your face is massive,

00:15at least that is until the rest of the order is relayed. The war isn't over. There will be no

00:21celebration. The only reason you're going to Moscow is that Putin is so terrified that he's

00:26willing to pull you away while letting more of your comrades die on the front. That's what's

00:31happening right now. Putin is so scared for his own life that Russian soldiers are being forced

00:36to flee Ukraine to protect him in Moscow. This is as good as surrender for Putin,

00:41and the ramifications are massive for the war. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has

00:47revealed the desperate move that a terrified Putin just made. Russian air defense units from all over

00:53Ukraine are being ordered back to Moscow, along with several other key sites in Russia to provide

00:58Putin and his cronies with protection against the swarms of drones that Ukraine has been launching

01:02into Russia. This is a classic example of robbing Peter to pay Paul, and it's going to be devastating

01:08to Russia's forces in occupied Ukraine. They're already dealing with the rise of Ukraine's middle

01:14strike drones and the sheer havoc that they've wreaked on Russian logistics behind the front.

01:18Now, Putin is saying that the weapons that are the frontline forces' only hope have to go back

01:24to Moscow to protect him while he sits on his little ivory throne in a bunker somewhere.

01:29Here's what Zelenskyy has to say about all of this.

01:32In the Moscow region alone, they have amassed hundreds of launchers. Nearly 90 launchers have

01:36been redeployed to Valdai from other regions of Russia, Zelenskyy revealed. Both of these locations

01:42are notable, Moscow for being Russia's capital and the home of the Kremlin, and Valdai because it hosts

01:47one of Putin's favorite residences. That town is 500 kilometers northwest of Moscow, which shows you

01:53just how far Putin is willing to send Russia's air defense units and the soldiers who operate them

01:57to protect his own skin. Don't get us wrong, Putin doesn't want to do any of this, but the fact

02:03is

02:03that his hand has been forced by a Ukrainian strategy so brilliant that it has forced Russia

02:08into a trap. There are no good choices for Putin, and you're going to learn why soon. But first,

02:13the big question, why is all of this happening? There's an easy answer to that one. Ukraine has

02:18been proving far too often that it can take out some of the most valuable targets that Russia is

02:23desperate to protect in and around Moscow. Let's take a step back for a little context. Moscow is

02:29hands down the single most protected region in all of Russia, and that protection means that there are

02:34already hundreds of air defense systems guarding the city. The Caspian Post calls it an iron ring of

02:40layered defenses that surrounds Russia's capital, and that ring has steadily grown since 2023.

02:45It now encompasses over 100 individual air defense units, ranging from S-300 and S-400 batteries that

02:52supposedly specialize in taking out missiles through to shorter-range systems such as the Pantsir.

02:58According to some sources, those air defenses are arranged in three rings, creating multiple layers

03:04that are supposed to make it impossible for anybody to penetrate and conduct strikes into the heart of

03:09Moscow. Russia has even gone as far as placing mobile Pantsir air defenses on top of civilian roofs,

03:15all to strengthen the city's defenses against the threat of Ukraine's drones. And absolutely none of

03:21it has mattered one bit. Ukraine has utterly rubbished the notion that Moscow is as protected as

03:26Putin needs it to be. A series of strikes carried out between May and June culminated in mid-June with

03:32an

03:32attack against the most important oil refinery in Moscow. That refinery is just 16 kilometers away from

03:38the Kremlin, and it produces roughly 40 to 50 percent of the Moscow region's fuel. The strike saw Russia

03:45claimed to have destroyed nearly 1,000 Ukrainian drones and missiles across the country's entire

03:50territory. But it couldn't stop the drones that hit the Moscow refinery so hard that they led to a

03:55terrible black rain showering down on the people of the city. This is Ukraine bringing the war back to

04:00Russia, and the fact that the strike occurred so close to the Kremlin would have left Putin with

04:05brown stains in his pants. It wouldn't take much for Ukraine's drones to travel an extra 16 kilometers,

04:11and it's clear that Russia's air defenses can't stop the massive swarms of deep strike drones Ukraine is

04:16now capable of sending. Putin's big problem now is the whole war coming back home to Russia aspect.

04:22The people of Moscow are pissed. They were never supposed to be dealing with black rain or literally

04:27hundreds of flights being cancelled and delayed due to Ukraine's strikes. Moscow was too well

04:32protected for all of this. Except it wasn't, and Ukraine has exposed that fact. And it's not as though

04:38the strike on the Moscow refinery was the end of it. On June 27, DW reported that Ukrainian drones had

04:44scored hits on an oil pumping station that is key to supplying Moscow with fuel. So what we're seeing

04:50from Ukraine is far from the occasional isolated strike. It's a campaign that is slowly cutting

04:55the city off from the key resource that it needs. Putin has been trying to hide all of this from

05:00the

05:00residents of Moscow, as one who spoke to the Russian outlet Sotovision said,

05:04I can't say anything about an alert. No sirens, nothing at all. Of course, I hope this is under control,

05:10but it obviously causes anxiety. Kremlin cronies are actively denouncing Russians who share pictures and

05:16videos of Ukraine's successful attacks against Moscow, as they all expose Putin's narrative for

05:22the pack of lies that it really is. The reality, as so many Muscovites are coming to realize,

05:27is that the air defenses that supposedly made their city impenetrable simply aren't good enough. The

05:33people know that they aren't really protected. And Putin knows it too. The veritable drone armada that

05:40Ukraine has been sending Moscow's way has consistently overwhelmed Russia's air defenses for months.

05:46Years back, when Ukraine didn't have a stockpile of long-range drones, Putin could pass all this off.

05:51Sure, Ukraine would strike, but it would usually hit targets in the border regions and other areas

05:55of Russia that are of little consequence to Putin, socially speaking, if not military. But now the

06:01strikes are growing more effective. They're being launched in far greater volume, and they're going

06:06deeper than ever before. The Wall Street Journal highlights Ukraine's ramp-up in 2026 alone,

06:11noting that there were fewer than 10 confirmed Ukrainian strikes on Russian targets in January,

06:17but the number is now above 30. Bear in mind that this only covers fully verified strikes.

06:22Firepoint, which builds the FP1 drone that is used to carry out so many of these strikes,

06:27says that it's looking to produce 300 of its devastating drones every day, each of which can

06:32travel between 1,600 kilometers and 3,000 kilometers, depending on the version.

06:38Throw modified Neptune missiles, Firepoint's own Flamingo cruise missile hybrid, and many more

06:43besides into the mix, and you get what is happening in Moscow. The Iron Ring isn't big enough to stop

06:49them all, so Putin is forced to pull air defenses from the front to protect himself, the Kremlin, and the

06:54average Muscovite from the fact that the war he started has explosive consequences in Russia's most

06:59important cities. Not that it's likely to matter much. As the Telegraph points out, Russia's entire

07:05air defense network, including the Iron Ring that surrounds Moscow, was never designed for what

07:10Ukraine is doing. The systems in that network, many of which are antiquated designs dating back to the

07:15Soviet era, are made to deal with conventional missiles and aircraft. Drones weren't even a thing

07:21when they were designed. And that doesn't necessarily mean that drones can't be destroyed by these

07:25systems. The sheer volumes at which the drones can be launched at Moscow means that they can't fire

07:30enough missiles to stop Ukraine's assaults. Images are even circulating online of Pantsir systems

07:35carrying two missiles rather than their usual six, suggesting that Russia is dealing with an

07:40interceptor shortage. CBS News adds that Russia is running out of S-300 air defense missiles,

07:46and based on Ukrainian estimates that Russia had about 400 interceptors available for its S-300 PM

07:52and S-400 systems in 2025, it seems likely that the missile shortage is affecting all of the air

07:58defense units that Putin had already stationed around Moscow. So more units are being moved to

08:03Russia's capital city, along with the missiles they hold and the troops that operate. Putin's philosophy

08:09seems to be that if the Iron Ring isn't enough right now, then more will make it strong enough.

08:13Maybe he's right, as unlikely as it seems. However, the sheer desperation in this move is revealing.

08:18Putin has been forced into a choice that he never wanted to make, but he's made it,

08:23and the ramifications for his Ukraine invasion are massive. This single choice could change

08:28everything, and it's exactly the kind of thing that we cover here at The Military Show. Now's the

08:33perfect time to subscribe to the channel before we get back to the video. Here's what Putin has really

08:38done when moving air defenses from the occupied territories back to Moscow. Russia's leader has made a

08:44conscious decision to weaken one to strengthen the other. That's pretty clear for everybody to see.

08:49Putin was faced with a choice between protecting himself and Russia's capital city or ensuring

08:54that the hundreds of thousands of soldiers that he has sent into Ukraine had something resembling

08:58protection, and he chose himself. Again, that sends a message to anybody that Putin sends into Ukraine

09:04that their lives are far less valuable than his, which they already knew, and that their lives are also

09:09less valuable than the perception of the average Muscovite. Putin is so desperate to ensure that

09:14Moscow's people don't see the ramifications of the war that he started that he's willing to let more

09:19of Russia's soldiers die on the front just to maintain the illusion that everything is going well back

09:24home. It's a sad state of affairs that speaks to Putin as a person. And best of all, Ukraine knew

09:30that

09:31this was how Putin would react once the drones reached Moscow. That's the genius of the deep strikes.

09:36It's not about oil refineries being hit and black rain soaking the people of Moscow.

09:41Though those are all superb outcomes from the Ukrainian perspective, it's really about setting

09:46Russia's military up to fail inside Ukraine, because Putin is abandoning the soldiers left on

09:51the front now that he has withdrawn air defenses to Moscow. Zelensky has plenty more to say after

09:56delivering the news. After revealing that Russia has pulled air defenses from the front to protect

10:00both Moscow and Kerch, which has also come under fire from Ukraine's drones, Zelensky said,

10:05Basically, there are two perimeters the Russians have been ordered to protect by weakening other

10:10areas on their own territory. And in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine,

10:14we will draw the necessary conclusions. We already know what those necessary conclusions are.

10:19We've been seeing them in occupied Ukraine for weeks, and they're only going to be more conclusive

10:23from here. Ukraine's middle strike campaign is the conclusion being drawn. That campaign has already

10:29broken through Russia's air defenses in the occupied territories, to the point that Ukraine has been able to

10:33launch its logistics lockdown campaign, which is in the process of isolating Crimea, and is also forcing

10:39Russia's forces at the front to enter the battle without the support they need. Ukraine has been

10:44targeting Russian air defenses constantly throughout 2026, with CNN reporting that Ukraine's armed forces

10:50claimed to have taken out 106 anti-air elements since the beginning of the year and over 1,400 since

10:57the

10:57war began. The middle strike campaign, which targets Russian military assets and logistics up to around

11:02300 kilometers behind the front lines, is the result of this campaign. You could argue at this point

11:08that Putin is moving air defenses to Moscow as much to protect the systems that Ukraine has been destroying

11:12as to guard Russia's capital. But whatever the case may be, Ukraine isn't going to relent. On June 26,

11:19just a day after Zelensky's air defense revelation, Ukraine's president announced a 40-day operation

11:24that is designed to pressure Putin into ending his invasion. That campaign is going to rely heavily

11:30on the long- and medium-range strikes that Ukraine has already been using, Zelensky says, with Crimea

11:35and Moscow likely to remain priorities. The day before, Ukraine's defense minister Mikhailo Fedorov took to

11:42X to announce that much more is coming to Russia in the occupied territories. Tightening the logistical

11:47lockdown of the Russian army and launching the first open tender for a record procurement of

11:51middle strike drones. In recent months, Ukraine has significantly increased its middle strike

11:56capabilities and initiated a logistical lockdown of the Russian army, he blared. Therein lies the

12:01genius of Ukraine's strategy. What Ukraine has done here is to strike Moscow to create weakness on the

12:07front. Ukraine knew exactly how Putin would react to Ukraine's drones reaching Moscow, and it's baited

12:12him into a trap perfectly. Putin did the Putin thing, protect himself and his cronies. Now that opens the

12:19door for Ukraine to achieve even more success on the front, and we've been seeing Ukraine achieve plenty

12:23of success already in 2026. As Russia Matters reports, the year has already gone terribly for Russia

12:30in terms of capturing territory. It points to figures from the Institute for the Study of War, or ISW,

12:35which says that Russia has suffered a net loss of 51.7 square kilometers between May 26th and June 23rd,

12:43when discounting the territory Russia claims to have gained but has only really snuck one or two

12:47infiltration units into. Russia is already losing soldiers at a rate of between 30 and 35,000 per month,

12:54and its daily losses are well in excess of 1,000 in June. The 24 hours up to June 27th

13:00alone saw Russia

13:01lose 1,350 soldiers, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense reports. What all of this tells us is that Ukraine

13:07already has momentum, built on the back of deep strikes, middle strikes, and a vicious defense on

13:12the front. And now that it has lured Putin into its pitch-perfect trap, it gets to build on that

13:17momentum. Ukraine has already gained fire control over key portions of the Donbass and Crimea using

13:22its drones, meaning Russia's forces can't attack freely, and every assault they launch already comes

13:28from a disadvantaged position due to their supply lines being cut. Now that Putin is pulling air

13:33defenses back to Moscow, the middle strike campaign is going to intensify. Ukraine will launch more

13:38strikes and, crucially, will have an even higher success rate than it already has. And all of this

13:43during the height of Russia's summer offensive. As we said, genius. Force Putin to create weaknesses on

13:50the front, and opportunities for counterattacks and more casualties arise. And there's a nice little

13:55bonus to all of this. Ukraine will be paying very close attention to the specific sites where Putin

13:59sends the air defense units that he's taken from the front lines. We know it has that capability.

14:05Ukraine has an entire shadow army in the occupied territories that is watching and waiting to see

14:09where gaps open up, so that information can be delivered. In Russia itself, groups like Ateş conduct

14:15sabotage operations in Moscow and will have eyes on potential targets. When those targets start to get

14:20bolstered with more air defense systems, Ukraine will know about it. When those targets start getting

14:25bolstered with more air defense systems, Ukraine will know about it. When targets in the occupied

14:29territories get weakened, Ukraine will know about it. Putin has been forced to hand valuable

14:35intelligence to Ukraine by letting himself get caught in a trap. And as soon as the withdrawn air

14:40defenses are in place, Ukraine will know exactly what Putin doesn't want the drones to hit. You don't

14:45need to be a great military tactician to figure out which sites will be getting visits from drone

14:48swarms so massive that the new air defenses won't be able to stop them. Oh, and there's one more

14:53thing. Ukraine has Gripen fighter jets incoming. That batch should arrive at some point in the next

14:5910 months or so, maybe even before the end of the year. They'll also be equipped with meteor missiles,

15:04which have a range of more than 100 kilometers and travel at speeds above Mach 4. If all works out

15:09in Ukraine's favor, those jets will be entering an environment where the Russian air defenses in the

15:13occupied territories are weaker than ever before, allowing Grypons and other fighter jets to carry

15:19out more lethal sorties against the Russian rear. Ukraine has created a perfect storm,

15:24and Putin is caught up in it. No matter which way Putin turns the Russian ship, the water is still

15:29coming on board. If he withdraws air defenses to Moscow, as he's doing, then Russia is weaker in the

15:34occupied territories. If he keeps those defenses where they were, then Moscow, Kerch, and every other

15:40high-value long-range target are weaker. There's no winning for Putin here, and the decision that he

15:45has made has basically invited Ukraine to build on all of the success that we've already seen in 2026.

15:50Does this mean an all-out offensive is coming from Ukraine? No. But it does mean that Ukraine can

15:56launch targeted counterattacks to retake territory, as well as attack the regions that Putin has just

16:00weakened. That just starts a cycle. Air defenses will then be moved to those targeted regions,

16:05opening up more opportunities, and so on and so on, as Ukraine whittles away at Russia's defenses.

16:11None of this has happened overnight. It's the result of years of work, fighting, research,

16:16development, and planning by Ukraine. All of that work is now coming to a head,

16:20and Putin has just learned that he's spent the past four-plus years stumbling right into Ukraine's trap.

16:26Now that air defenses have been withdrawn to Moscow, we have a pretty good idea of what's in store for

16:30the occupiers, yet more targets being struck. Ukraine was already doing well enough in that department,

16:36over 800,000 verified targets have been hit in 2026 alone, and there's a lot more to come.

16:42Find out more by watching our video. And if you enjoyed this video, hit subscribe,

16:46and keep an eye on your feed to see what the military show has in store next. And thank you,

16:51as always, for watching.

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