UAVs began to attack not only the border regions of Russia

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Where exactly did the drones fly?

On December 5, there were explosions at the military airfields "Dyagilevo" in the Ryazan region and "Engels-2" in the Saratov region - 500 and 600 kilometers from the Russian-Ukrainian border. Three soldiers were killed and five more were wounded. In Engels, were two bombers damaged, in Dyagilevo, two more aircraft.

The Defense Ministry said the sites were attacked by "Soviet-made jet unmanned aerial vehicles" that were intercepted by the Russian air defense system, and the damage was allegedly caused by the wreckage of the drones.

Are drones flying from Ukraine?

The Ukrainian side did not take responsibility for the strikes. after the incident But adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak wrote that “if something is launched into the airspace of other countries, sooner or later unknown flying objects will return to the point of departure.”

The New York Times, citing a "high-ranking Ukrainian official," wrote that the drones were launched from Ukraine. One of the attacks, according to the source, was coordinated by a detachment of Ukrainian special forces who were close to the target. Drone attacks, wrote The New York Times, showed holes in the Russian air defense.

The Washington Post, also citing a "high-ranking Ukrainian official", reported that three drone attacks on Russian military airfields in the Kursk , Ryazan and Saratov regions were staged by Ukraine. The fourth attack, in the Bryansk region, was not commented on in the publication.

The correspondent of Komsomolskaya Pravda, Alexander Kots , wrote that the airfields were allegedly attacked by the Tu-141 Swift, which can cover a distance of up to a thousand kilometers. At the same time, Kots noted that the distance from the Ukrainian border to Engels, where the drones flew, and to Moscow is almost the same.

That is, it can also hit Moscow?

Meduza called the incident a turning point in the current stage of the war. But, according to aviation journalist Andrei Menshenin, it happened back in September, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a counteroffensive. Attacks in the Russian rear look like its logical continuation: the Armed Forces of Ukraine strike at military logistics facilities in Russia in order to weaken its troops.

“Strikes on strategic bomber bases show that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have the opportunity to hit more Russian platforms for launching cruise missiles,” says Andrey Menshenin. - It looks like it was not considered by the Russian command as a serious threat, since the drones were able to cross the front line and leave the airspace of Ukraine. The likelihood of further strikes against military targets in the Russian rear depends on whether Russian air defenses can intercept such targets.” The flight range of the Soviet Tu-141 Strizh reaches thousands of kilometers, and, according to Menshenin, if such drones are launched from the most northeastern regions of Ukraine, then their range may be enough to fly to Moscow.

“According to one of the versions, the Armed Forces of Ukraine received modernized Soviet Tu-141 Swift drones, which were produced from 1979 to 1989. Initially, they were intended only for reconnaissance, but in the spring of 2014, the Armed Forces of Ukraine decided to modernize these drones,” says Menshenin. “According to another version, Ukrainian specialists have developed and assembled some completely new type of drone, the characteristics of which are kept secret.”

At the same time, Russians who do not live in border areas, according to Menshenin, should not be afraid of drone attacks. “Massive strikes against, for example, Moscow, are unlikely for several reasons: a small number of available drones in Ukraine, the presence of [more] priority military targets for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the [working] Russian air defense system,” Menshenin explained.

Explosions continue in border areas

Residents of the Bryansk, Kursk and Rostov regions of drone attacks, according to Menshenin, will continue to worry, as before.

Drones have been flying to Russian territory since the beginning of the war. But until the beginning of December, only the border regions were under attack.

Drones are still flying into their territory now. For example, on the morning of December 6, a drone attacked an airfield in the Kursk region. According to Governor Roman Starovoit, the oil tank caught fire as a result of the attack. The head of the region added that there were no casualties. In the region, they began to cancel classes in schools, extended the "yellow" level of terrorist danger for another 15 days.