“UFOs” have rained on Russia in recent days – some dangerously close to the capital Moscow and President Vladimir Putin’s hometown.

Russian officials and media, using that term – “unidentified foreign objects” – seem unnerved and are accusing Ukraine of drone attacks. 

Ukraine on Wednesday denied targeting Russia, suggesting attempts at domestic assaults – which Moscow did not accept.

With a dash of black humour, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted that a sense of “panic and collapse” was growing in Russia, “manifested by increasing domestic attacks of unidentified flying objects on infrastructure sites”.

Throughout the war, Ukrainian leaders and top brass have routinely refused any responsibility for attacks on Russian soil – and often resort to ridiculing disorganised Russian servicemen.

A Ukrainian military expert said that even though Kyiv can and should attack Russia’s territory, it does not want to divulge details of its operations there.

“We are allowed to deliver strikes on the aggressor nation in principle, but we stick to the rule that if and when it happens, [the strikes] should target military sites firstly,” Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy chief of Ukraine’s general staff of armed forces, told Al Jazeera.

“But because of many circumstances, at this stage, we won’t declare what and how we are doing on enemy territory,” he said.

Analysts have said Kyiv is preparing to launch more attacks with its growing fleet of domestically produced unmanned aircraft – and top pro-Kremlin figures are worried.

“I have a bunch of questions,” Tina Kandelaki, acting head of the TNT television network, wrote on Telegram.

“Is this our new reality? How many regions will be [hit] by the next attack? Does the defence ministry have a plan to protect our cities? Who can guarantee security for our people?” she wrote.

On February 26, two blasts  rocked an airfield in pro-Putin Belarus damaging one of the most precious Russian weapons – one of only nine A-50 planes that can identify the locations of Ukrainian air defence units. Belarusian “guerrilla fighters” claimed responsibility.

On Monday night, at least four drones fell short of reaching a power station in the western Russian city of Belgorod that sits less than 40km (25 miles) from the border.

And on Tuesday, an “unidentified flying object” was spotted over St Petersburg, where Putin was born.

Air space over Russia’s second-largest city that lies almost 1,500km (930 miles) north of Ukraine was briefly closed, and fighter jets took off as part of a rehearsal – drills to “train for interception and identification of a conditional target,” a defence official reportedly said.

Earlier, though, when asked about the St Petersburg incident, the Kremlin had said little, only that Putin was aware of events.