San Francisco Frontiers - 'War has come': Russians shaken by Ukrainian drone barrage

Like for most Russians, Moscow's three-year military campaign had until then felt distant -- mostly constrained to television screens.

Despite militaristic propaganda and a mass recruitment of soldiers, authorities have tried to keep society at arm's length from the conflict's death and destruction -- especially in and around the capital.

"You understand that it is war, but you don't realise it properly," Svetlana, wearing a winter coat with a fur collar, said. "But now, yes, it has come."

In her town of Ramenskoye, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of central Moscow, police had cordoned off an area where a drone hit.

The attack shattered the sense of comfort that Svetlana -- a supporter of the Kremlin's offensive -- had.

"Yes, we were weaving camouflage nets, collecting humanitarian aid, accompanying fighters there, but we still didn't realise it. Now it has come," Svetlana said.

"I'm scared for the children," said Andrei, an electrician who lives on the 12th floor of a building that was hit.

He was sweeping up broken glass from his car, which was hit by falling shrapnel after the drone crashed into the 18th-22nd floors.

"My six-year-old daughter was sleeping with me, she woke up crying from the noise," he told AFP.

- 'Fear in their eyes' -

Kyiv said it wants the attack -- which involved more than 300 drones -- to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to an aerial ceasefire.

The Kremlin has previously ruled that out.

Ukraine says the strikes are just a taste of what Russia has subjected its citizens to over the last three years, with Moscow having fired near daily bomb, missile and drone attacks across the country.

"There is not even any thought that tonight will be peaceful. It's scary," said Olga, a 21-year old who works in IT and lives in the adjacent building to one hit.

She ran out to the street after being woken at 5 am (0200 GMT) by the rumbling.

"People just have fear in their eyes," she told AFP, the ground around her covered with shrapnel.

Unlike in Ukraine -- where air alerts ring out practically every night in almost every city -- there was no such warning of an incoming attack in the Russian capital or its suburbs.

"We don't understand what to do in such situations," said Olga.

- 'I don't believe in peace' -

"The news says that more and more drones are being shot down. It's scary to even go to sleep after such a thing," she added. "It could have been us."

The idea of peace -- previously seen as within reach amid US President Donald Trump's rapprochement with Moscow -- now felt far away in Ramenskoye.

"In my opinion, this attack won't be the last," said retiree Sergei, criticising Ukraine's "bloodthirsty" European backers who were supplying it with arms.

For 75-year-old Yulia, who lives next to the building that was hit, there was just frustration.

"My heart is bad. I don't believe there will be peace," she told AFP.

"Why can't they agree? Why not? What are they thinking about?," she said, through tears. "It's terrible."

afptv-bur/jm

Z.Sanchez--SFF