Several Russian media and news agencies reported, on Monday morning, that a Ukrainian attack with a drone carrying 17 kilograms of explosives must have landed in the Moscow region after running out of fuel.
– I can confirm this. Landed in the woods. A local resident went for a walk and found the drone. A spokesman for the local authorities told the Russian News Agency that there was no explosion and no casualties RBC.
Also the Russian state-controlled media palm And Ria Incident reporting:
– An American motorized drone crashed near Noginsk, RIA address on its pages on Monday morning.
This attack is the second of its kind. Also at the end of February, the Ukrainians sent a drone attack towards Moscow, Lars Peder Haga told Nettavisen.
– Based on photos from then and now, the drones look almost identical. He says.
Haga is an associate professor at the Norwegian Air Force School and an expert in air power and technology.
The last time Moscow was attacked by a drone, the Gazprom plant was near the impact area, but then the drone appeared to crash into some trees. The drone that crashed on Monday fell 40 kilometers from the center of Moscow.
This is what Ukraine wants from the attacks
It’s far from certain, says Haga, that the drone was on the right track.
– But what sets these Moscow drones apart is how far they can reach Russia. Haga says most of the attacks have been close to Ukrainian-held territory, including against Belgorod in Russia or in Russian-occupied Crimea.
– What are the Ukrainians thinking behind sending an attack drone so far to Russia?
– They want to show the Russians that they are weak in some points. In addition, they want to show the Ukrainian population that they are capable of fighting back – and that they are not powerless.
The Russian media is in trouble
Haga compares it to waves of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine’s electricity supply last fall.
– The purpose of this campaign is to create a sense of hopelessness and hopelessness in the civilian population, so that they demand a peace agreement. With these counterattacks, you show that you are not powerless, that you can be defeated. I think it has a fairly great moral significance, even if the military impact isn’t necessarily great, says Haga.
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– But in that sense, isn’t it a little strange that the Russian state-controlled media chose to report on this?
– I think they also have a need to tell the Russian population that the Ukrainians are bad, that they are attacking us. But yeah, they end up in a bit of a bind whether they keep quiet about it or not, says Haga.
– Not waterproof
It is not surprising that the Russians are unable to shoot down these drones destined for Moscow:
– The drone is so small that once it passes forward, it is not certain that it will be detected, quite simply. All these incidents indicate that the Russian defense system is not watertight, as Haga replies.
Haga says the Ukrainians have turned old reconnaissance planes into cruise missiles.
– The most spectacular and dramatic attack with these weapons was on the air station of strategic bombers in December, says Hajj.
In December, the Russian Engels base was attacked twice. The base is located about 650 kilometers as the crow flies east of the front in Ukraine. Moscow is about the same distance away, but in a northerly direction. Based on the first reports Monday morning, there is little indication of a military or energy facility in the immediate vicinity where the latest drone has landed.
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