No “War,” No Shelters—Why Moscow Refuses to Reveal Civil Defense Locations

Authorities in the Moscow-region town of Kotelniki refused to tell residents the locations of local shelters and bomb shelters. They stated the information would be released only “during mobilization and in wartime.”

The officials' response, flagged by the russian outlet Daily Storm, was reported on June 18, hours after Ukrainian drones struck Kotelniki and the wider Moscow region overnight.

The refusal left residents of a town under attack without official guidance on where to shelter. It ties such information to a formal state of war or mobilization, a threshold Russia has not crossed despite the strikes on its capital region.

Local administration officials further stated they were not obligated to warn residents of air danger, calling such alerts "an extreme, not a routine measure." Sirens, they noted, are sounded only when there is a direct, confirmed threat to life; otherwise, they "provoke panic and chaos."

Ukraine's overnight assault on June 18 was the largest aimed at Moscow since the war began, with authorities reporting 194 drones downed near the capital.

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The main target was the Moscow Oil Refinery in the Kapotnya district, where the strike set off a large fire. Smoke spread over the capital, and a "black rain"  fell across the surrounding region.

Residents described sheltering in a metro underpass with suitcases and strollers as the area filled with smoke and an acrid chemical smell, Russian media reported.

The reluctance to alert residents contrasts with the region's own recent practice. On June 2, Moscow region authorities issued a first-of-its-kind emergency drone-threat warning, sending mobile alerts to residents.

The notifications urged people to take cover in shelters, underground crossings, or parking garages, after two Ukrainian drones were intercepted near the capital.

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