Paranoid Putin imposes huge security clampdown in Moscow with ring of steel around Kremlin as drone slams into skyscraper ‘housing top spies’

A massive security clampdown has been imposed on Moscow amid new paranoia from Vladimir Putin.

The move comes amid an overnight strike on the city’s ‘Hollywood’ district when an elite high-rise tower in Mosfilmovskaya Street was hit and damaged by a Ukrainian drone.

The attack on the high-rise – rumoured to be home to key figures in Russia‘s SVR foreign intelligence service – was by an unmanned plane which evaded sophisticated air defences installations in the city.

The strike was at the start of a week that will see Putin’s annual military Victory Day Parade on Red Square involving thousands of Russian troops on Saturday to commemorate the end of WW2.

Moscow is riven by fears that the Ukrainians could attack rehearsals for the showpiece – or even the parade itself hosted by Putin when he is due to make a ‘very important’ speech.

Snipers and machine gunners have appeared on the towers and ramparts of the Kremlin, which overlooks Red Square, reported VChK-OGPU, a Telegram channel with reported links to the security services, and associated Rucriminal outlet.

Armoured vehicles and trucks with anti-drone weapons are being deployed at the Kremlin.

‘Literally on all the towers, walls, and buildings of the Kremlin, there are soldiers from special units with machine guns, sniper rifles, and special equipment,’ said the channel.

Armed checkpoints have been established at the entrances to the Russian capital.

The Ukrainian drone hit the 36th floor of the Mosfilmovskaya tower, with videos showing significant damage in the 1am strike.

It is less than four miles from the Kremlin.

Unconfirmed reports said the complex houses high-ranking members of the SVR.

The high-rise is close to a prestigious mansion complex where Putin’s security council secretary and ex-Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, and the chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, are reported to have highly-guarded homes.

Moscow has been relatively untouched by Ukrainian strikes over the past year, but there are fears the city will become a target this week.

Putin has floated the idea of a brief ceasefire to cover the parade – but Ukraine wants a longer truce and linked peace talks.

So far no ceasefire is in place.

The ‘whole world’ is waiting to hear Putin’s Victory Day speech, said his spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said it would be ‘very important’.

Ukraine launched a wave of drone attacks on targets across Russia on ‌Sunday, hitting the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk and setting it on fire, and striking a number of vessels, as it steps up attacks on energy infrastructure and other targets.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strikes had caused significant damage to the oil terminal port. ​They also hit an oil tanker, a small Russian Karakurt-class missile ship and a patrol boat in the Baltic Sea.

‘Each ​such result further limits Russia’s war potential,’ he wrote.

Among numerous reports of other attacks elsewhere ​in Russia, the governor of the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said a drone had hit a car, killing a 21-year-old man and his father on the spot.

Primorsk, one of Russia’s largest export gateways, has capacity to handle ​1 million barrels per day of oil supply. It has been hit multiple times in recent months as US-brokered ​talks to end the Ukraine war have stalled. 

Zelensky earlier on Sunday said Ukrainian forces also struck two shadow-fleet tankers in waters at the entrance ‌to ⁠the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. 

‘These tankers had been actively used to transport oil – not anymore,’ Zelensky said on Telegram. ‘Ukraine’s long-range capabilities will continue to be developed comprehensively – at sea, in the air, and on land.’