Russia has cancelled a major international air show because of drone “security concerns”, in a fresh embarassment for Putin.
The British Ministry of Defence said Russia would not be going ahead with MAKS, which the Kremlin uses to highlight Russia’s “civil and military” air tech, “largely due to genuine security concerns”.
Russian officials were scared of “reputation damage” caused by having fewer international attendees because of its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
It comes after two apparent explosive drones allegedly targeted the Kremlin and were shot down in May.
In its latest briefing, the MoD said: “The war has been exceptionally challenging for Russia’s aerospace community.
“The sector is struggling under international sanctions; highly trained specialists are being encouraged to serve as infantry in the Roscosmos space agency’s own militia.”
The MoD also said a top Russian general, Commander in Chief of the Aerospace Forces, Sergei Surovikin, has not been seen in public since the abortive mutiny by Wagner Group last month.
Surovikin had served as a point of contact with the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Reports claim he may have been arrested for having pre-knowledge of the Wagner mutiny.
But it is not clear whether Surovikin faces any charges or whether he is being held, and the US White House and the Kremlin have not commented.
Many analysts believe the mutiny has weakened Putin because he first announced that Wagner would face harsh repercussions, only to later say that the group’s forces would not face prosecution.
The mercenary group’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was also allowed to leave Russia for Belarus.
While cancelling its own air show for fear of drone attacks, Russia separately launched drone attack early on Sunday on Kyiv. It was the first such attack in 12 days.
All of the Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones were detected and shot down, according to Serhii Popko, the head of the Kyiv city administration. One person was wounded due to falling debris, he said.
