Russians react to Ukraine's unprecedented drone attack

Ukraine's drone attack on Russia's long-range bombers was unprecedented, not that you'd know it from reading the Russian papers.

Nor from watching the news bulletins here. Monday's front pages were dominated by photos of the wreckage of a road bridge collapsing on to a passenger train in the Bryansk region, after it was blown up late on Saturday night.

Ukraine war: Follow latest Meanwhile, the flagship talk show on state TV here on Monday morning didn't even mention the attack. Instead, there was just a breathless build-up to the latest round of peace talks in Istanbul.

The lack of visual coverage of the drone attack is partly because of the sensitivities around publishing images of Russian military infrastructure. But I think it's also because the Kremlin wants to play down the assault, which was a hugely embarrassing breach of Russia's defences.

So where the attack is mentioned in the papers, it's done in a way to reinforce Moscow's narrative - that Ukraine is the aggressor out to derail the peace process. The Izvestia newspaper, for example, describes it as a terrorist attack, and says it "calls into question Kyiv's readiness for de-escalation".

There's no reference to the scale of the damage, and there's certainly no sense of alarm. It's a similar vibe on the streets of Moscow, where we meet Irina.

She believes the reports of the attack are "exaggerated". "These planes are very old and hardly anyone needs them," she says.

Another passer-by, called Vladimir, says he trusts his namesake Mr Putin to respond when the time is right. "This must be done systematically, confidently, and without any kind of nervous breakdowns, or any shows of soul," he says.

There is plenty of soul on show on social media, though, where Russia's influential military bloggers are calling for a rapid retaliation. One popular channel, called Dva Mayora or "Two Majors.