Russia-Ukraine war: what is known about the drone attack on Moscow

Russian air defenses stopped eight drones heading for Moscow, Russian officials said on Tuesday, in an attack authorities blamed on Ukraine, as Russia continued its relentless bombing of Kiev with its third assault on the Ukrainian capital in 24 hours. .

The Russian Defense Ministry said five drones were shot down and the other three were hijacked after manipulating their systems, as described as a “terrorist attack” by the “Kiev regime”.

The crash caused “insignificant damage” to several buildings, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Two people received medical treatment for unspecified injuries but did not need to be hospitalized, he detailed in a Telegram post, adding that residents of the two buildings damaged in the attack have been evacuated.

Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the Moscow region, noted that several drones “were shot down as they approached Moscow.”

Except for these few comments, few details are actually known about the drone attack on the Russian capital.

Here are some clues to understand this unusual assault that marks a change of course in the war that has been going on for almost a year and a half.

How many drones were there and what type?

Although Russia has confirmed the detection of eight drones, some Russian media spoke of between 19 and 32 attacks. This was stated by the British channel BBC, which however clarified that it could not confirm the exact amount because some may have been counted twice.

The BBC also tried to verify what kind of ships were used for the raid. As he pointed out, there was initial speculation that they could be the Ukrainian-made UJ-22 drones.

But, after checking the images, the British chain’s experts ruled out that possibility. They explained that these drones have different wings, a fuselage with another design and the steering wheel in another position than what could be seen.

On the other hand, the BBC stressed that there was no warning before the drone attack on Moscow because they were flying at a very low altitude, according to a military source.

Duma (Lower House) deputy Alexandr Khinshtein published in his Telegram a list of places where, according to preliminary data, drones were shot down in the Moscow region.

One of them would be Razdori, where there are dachas (country houses), private homes of officials and businessmen, and which is about a 10-minute drive from President Putin’s residence, independent journalists Farida Rustamova and Maxim Tovkaylo wrote on their Telegram channel.

Doubts

Ukrainian authorities have not commented. on the attack, which would be one of its deepest forays into the neighboring country since the invasion began more than 15 months ago.

these episodes questioned the effectiveness of the air defenses Russian.

A prominent Russian lawmaker, Andrei Kartapolov, stressed that the purpose of the attacks was to upset the Russian population. “It is an act of intimidation against the civilian population,” he said, quoted by RBC, “it is intended to create a wave of panic,” he added.

Residents in Moscow reported explosions before dawn. Police were seen working at the site where one of the drones crashed, in the southwest of the capital. An area near a residential building was cordoned off and officers placed the remains of the drone in a cardboard box before taking it away.

Somewhere else, the windows of the apartments were smashed and there were burn marks on the facade of the building.

series of attacks

It was the second known attack in Moscow after authorities said two drones attacked the Kremlin in early May in what they called an attempt to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian drones have allegedly entered Russian territory on several occasions. In December, Russia announced it was shooting down drones at airports in Saratov and Ryazan provinces. Three soldiers were killed in the incident in Saratov, which targeted a major military airport.

The Kremlin had previously reported the downing of a Ukrainian drone that attacked the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol on the annexed Crimea peninsula.

Source: agencies