Where did the drones that attacked the Kremlin flew from? How did they manage to get around the air defense? Did something threaten Putin?

"Medusa" answers the main questions about strikes under the residence of the President of the Russian Federation

On the night of May 3, two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) attacked the Moscow Kremlin - the working residence of the President of the Russian Federation. Officially, the Russian authorities confirmed this only in the middle of the day, accusing the Ukrainian special services of what happened. The administration of Vladimir Putin said that the drones were destroyed, but did not explain exactly how they flew to the very center of Moscow. "Medusa" answers the most important questions about the attack of drones.

What exactly happened on the night of May 3 in the sky over Moscow?

We restored the chronology of attack.

The first drone

The drone flew from the side of the Zamoskovorechye (that is, from the south from the Kremlin) and exploded over the dome of the Senate Palace. One of the published records shows how sparks and smoke appear after a few seconds - the wind takes him towards the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin. The clock on the tower shows 2:27.

All videos with blows of the first drone

Look

The first video in which is recorded, how smoke rises above the Kremlin, appeared in the telegram channel “Neighbors. Yakimanka-Zamoskvorechye ” at 2:37 (Moscow time) on May 3. In the video shot from the high floor of the house on the embankment (2) Strafimovich Street, the Kremlin is visible from the Kremlin embankment: behind the Great Kremlin Palace - smoke. The video is published with the comment:

The neighbors from the house on the embankment report strong cotton and smoke in the center at about 2:30 in the morning. A few minutes later, the cotton repeated.

At 15:01, the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN published a 14-second entry with a watermark of the telegram channel Vladislav Pozdnyakov (Medusa could not find the primary source of the video). It shows how a small area on the dome of the Senate Palace burns. This shooting is probably made from the Hotel "Baldhag Kazpinski."

Most likely, this entry records the consequences of the attack of the first drone: the Moscow TV channel of TVC (belongs to the Moscow government) later said that a fire occurred on the roof of the Senate Palace after the BPL strike.

At 15:41, an entry appeared on the TVC website, the objects on which allows you to confidently geoloscope the shooting point in the eastern part of the Kempinski Balders. In this video, the drone moves from the seamstress (that is, from the south) in the direction of the Kremlin and explodes above the dome of the Senate Palace.

The second drone

The second drone exploded almost in the same place at 2:43, that is, after 16 minutes. By that time, they managed to turn off the backlight near the Kremlin - even the lanterns did not burn, which usually illuminate the Kremlin embankment. Only red stars on the spiers of the towers continued to glow.

This time, the UAV flew up to the Kremlin from the side of Kitay-Gorod (that is, from the east), flew past the dome of the Senate Palace on which the presidential standard was installed-and, like the first drone, exploded directly above the flagpole. The flag on the dome did not catch fire.

In one of the videos , you can notice how two people climb the stairs on the dome to the flagpole. Perhaps they were supposed to examine the consequences of the fire that happened when the first drone was attacking - however, it is impossible to reliably say this.

All videos with the blows of the second drone

Look

At 3:16 in the telegram channel "Neighbors. Yakimanka-Zamoskvorechye ”two more videos appeared, shot from the house on the embankment, with the next comment:

The cotton was similar to the thunder, the neighbors write from the street Serafimovich. Also, residents of the house on the embankment saw sparks in the sky and people with lanterns near the Kremlin wall after cotton. The backlight of the Kremlin and the Kremlin embankment is now turned off.

At about three o’clock in the afternoon, another record began to disperse in social networks - from cameras installed on Red Square. Judging by the location of various objects, the video was shot in the southwestern part of the GUM department store.

"Medusa" was able to determine that one of the earliest publications of this record (at 15:05) was made in the telegram channel "Open Ukraine | Open Ukraine ” (now this post is edited; perhaps the video was added later, but there is no evidence of this). The comment that was accompanied by the video in the channel did not report anything specific.

The frames show how an object that looks like an UAV flies towards the Kremlin. It seems that the drone is reduced, but this can be an illusion associated with the prospect of shooting. It is in this video that people appear who climb the stairs to the dome of the Senate Palace. In the lower right corner, one can also notice the dark figure of a person who, presumably, runs along Red Square (in the first seconds of recording it is not visible entirely). At the time of the explosion, he stops and looks towards the dome.

The video published by Open Ukraine may have been transformed from the computer. Third -party noise is heard in it, but at the time of the explosion the sound path does not change . If you look closely, it can be noted that in the upper right corner, an image of a cork board with the A4 format format mounted on it is applied to the frames from Red Square, and a computer monitor is noticeable on the central left side. Near the cork board there is a man, he holds a mobile phone in his hands, at the end of the video the figure begins to move. This video later appeared in the TASS telegram channel.

At 16:21, in the telegram channel of the propagandist and “military commander” Alexander Kotz, a video appeared with a WTC watermark (telegram channel with an address indicated in the video). It shows how the drone enters the frame from the side of Kitay-Gorod. Having flew by the Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed and Spasskaya Tower, the drone approaches the flagpole and, having caught up with it, explodes. On the watch of the Spasskaya Tower - 2:43.

The TVC TV channel confirmed a little later that the attack of the second UAV was recorded at that moment, and its fragments, according to the channel, fell into the Kremlin. The same news published a video that appeared in the telegram channel of Kotz.

The Kremlin in its press release announced that the drones were “disabled”, that is, they were knocked down by Russian air defense. But this, most likely, contradicts the fact that both drones exploded at the dome of the Senate Palace, in the immediate vicinity of each other. The press release itself was published only on the afternoon of May 3.

That is, the authorities reported an attack on the Kremlin after half a day?

Yes, and in a rather strange order. At first at 14:27, the TASS telegram channel published a post that the mayor's office banned the flights of drones over Moscow, after a minute the news about the same with reference to Sobyanin published RIA Novosti (while the restrictions on the flights of drones were already operating since May 2022). The reasons for this decision were not reported.

A few minutes later, at 14:35, the president’s press service appeared on the Kremlin’s website-before that, nothing was known about the attack. The press release said that the “Kiev regime” “attempt to strike with unmanned aircraft” according to the Kremlin residence of the president; Putin himself was not injured.

Two minutes before the time of the release of the press release, which was indicated on the site , the first paragraph from it appeared in the telegram channel of RIA Novosti; For a minute-several quotes from a press release were published in the TASS telegram channel.

Despite the fact that the Kremlin said “about the absence of material damage”, in the evening of May 3 there was a photograph that clearly shows that the fire damaged the cover of the dome of the Senate Palace.

The Kremlin’s press service also stated that they regard the attack as “a planned terrorist action and attempt on the president”, and emphasized that the choice of date was carried out: soon the celebration of Victory Day and the parade on May 9, “on which the presence of foreign guests will be planned, will take place on Red Square. The authorities of the Russian Federation are also threatened by the fact that "the Russian side reserves the right to take response measures there and then where and when it considers it necessary."

What kind of drones were struck by the Kremlin?

It is unknown. The Ukrainian authorities deny their involvement in the attack and say that "neither Putin nor Moscow attack." Advisor to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak claims that these events are part of Russia's preparation of a “large -scale terrorist provocation in the coming days”.

If you still consider the version that the attack was organized by Ukrainian special services or pro -Ukrainian partisans within Russia, then they had two ways to deliver a drone with explosives to the Kremlin.

The first is an attack from the territory of Ukraine with a long -range drone. The Armed Forces of Ukraine several times struck by modernized reactive drones of the Soviet era “Swift”. Their main advantage is high speed (up to 1100 kilometers per hour); It is assumed that during modernization they got the opportunity to fly to the target at low altitude; All this together complicated the task for air defense to knock them down.

However, judging by the video of the Kremlin, in this case, a significantly slower UAV was used. Analysis of two videos shot from the GUM and from the Balchug Kempinski hotel allows you to set the speed of the second drone - from 30 to 35 meters per second (108–126 kilometers per hour).

Ukraine has such drones of its own production. So, UJ-22 Airborne UJ-22 Ukrdet was introduced back in 2021. He is able to overcome a distance of 800 kilometers (from the Kremlin to the border of Ukraine - less than 500). True, it has not yet been reported that Ukraine equipped such drones with a warhead.

The main drawback of such a drone is a good radar visibility. In addition, the noise from the engine of such an UAV (this is always an internal combustion engine, since electric for a flight over such distances requires a heavy battery that significantly increases the dormennet dimensions), as a rule, is heard from afar. This is one of the main disadvantages of the Iranian analogue - the Shahid drone, which Russia uses for blows on targets in Ukraine. In order to guaranteed to overcome the air defense on the entire route, from the border of Ukraine to Moscow, the drone must fly very low. This requires the use of rather complex technologies - for example, a built -in system that checks the route with an exact relief map.

Another problem is that such drones should receive a correction on GPS correction (but not constantly). The same “marten” is controlled by an inertial system, which after launch reads the position of the drone in space. But such a system inevitably accumulates errors when flying over a long distance, and therefore periodic correction is required using a satellite coordinate system.

Russia, on the other hand, has a large number of systems that effectively mock or “replacing” GPS signal. So, in April American documents, the fact that Ukrainian bombs with American satellite correction blocks (JDAM) do not always fall on the target due to counteracting Russian electronic warfare systems (EEB) are discussed in detail. Many Muscovites who traveled past the Kremlin in recent years could meet the capabilities of the REB when Vladimir Putin was there. Their navigators often informed them that they were not on the Kremlin embankment, but, for example, at Vnukovo Airport.

If long -range drones like a “marty” were used to strike the Kremlin, the attacking side should have known the time when the REB system did not work in the center of the capital, as well as a route (including a height), on which the UAV could be invisible to the radar radar.

The second possible tool is a drone launched from the territory of Moscow. Recently, UAVs have been used in the Russian-Ukrainian war, which have no defects in drones with GPS correction. We are talking about the so -called FPV throns, which, unlike most commercial UAVs, simply do not have a GPS receiver. In addition, they (also, unlike commercial drones), do not have a fixed and well -known frequency of the communication channel, and therefore it is more difficult to drown out, intercept and even detect the electronic warfare systems. Their main drawback is a small range (several kilometers) and the complexity of management. But these shortcomings cannot be called critical for attacking the Kremlin if such a drone was launched from Moscow as an experienced operator.

A video of a night attack is indicated against this version: it shows that a rather large drone was used for a blow (with dimensions several meters in length and width). Such a car could hardly be quietly launched from the center of Moscow.

If FPV thrones were still used to strike, we can talk about the mistakes of Russian counterintelligence, and if long-range, then Russia is clearly errors in organizing air defense and electronic warfare in the most important direction. In the latter case, the only thing that the Russian authorities can console is a slight capacity of the warhead of the driving drones. For comparison: the same Iranian “Shahids” carry several tens of kilograms of explosives, which could much more damage the buildings of the Kremlin.

At the same time, it is worth repeating once again that the Ukrainian authorities insist that they are not related to the attack and we are talking about planned provocation. If this is so, the options with which the blow was carried out can be very diverse.

Did Putin really threaten Putin? Does it happen in the Kremlin at night?

The president’s office is really located in the Senate Palace. More recently, at the end of March 2023, the President of the Russian Federation stated that in the Kremlin he has an apartment in which he "has been spending a lot of time recently, working, and sleeps very often."

However, according to two interlocutors close to the presidential administration, this is not true: Putin is extremely rare in the Kremlin - mainly on “official reasons” and day. “Already since the time of work in the government [Putin has been the prime minister from 2008 to 2012], he prefers [even during the day] to work from residence (Novo-Ogravo, Sochi)-not only to stay in Moscow for the night,” one of them assures.

According to official reports , on May 2, Vladimir Putin was in St. Petersburg, where he met with Governor Alexander Beglov and personally congratulated the director of the Mariinsky Theater Valery Gergiev on the 70th birthday. Among other things, Beglov reported to Putin about the “restoration” of Mariupol (Petersburg took “patronage” on work in a city destroyed by the army of the Russian Federation) - together they opened a tram movement there by video communication.

In addition, on May 2, Putin held a video conference with two governors - the head of the Voronezh region Alexander Gusev and the head of the Altai Territory Viktor Tomenko.

On May 3, the Kremlin’s website appeared about Putin’s in -person meeting with the Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin. The news states that she went to the president’s residence in Novo-Ogravo. But, according to one of the Medusa interlocutors close to the Kremlin, this meeting could not be held today, but earlier. “The conversation with Nikitin is already“ canned food ”,” he said. The source drew attention to the fact that on April 27, Nikitin met with the organizers of the Gorky Fest film festival - actor Mikhail Porechenkov and producer Oksana Mikheeva, and before personal meetings with the president, officials should still withstand at least weekly quarantine.

Why did the Russian authorities immediately called the attack “President’s attempt”?

Obviously, they pursue propaganda and, possibly, diplomatic goals.

According to one of the UN conventions , the head of any state uses international protection. This means that all countries that have ratified the Convention (and this is also Russia and Ukraine) should:

• To prevent crimes against a person under international protection , including attempts to kill and attack the official or dwelling in which this person is located.
• Add punishment for the relevant crimes to the legislation.
• Trying to hold the suspect to justice if there is reason to assume that the criminal is a citizen of this country.

Despite the fact that the International Criminal Court (MUS) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant of Vladimir Putin, he remains the current head of state and a person under international protection, a lawyer specializing in international law told Medusa. Therefore, Russia may require a meeting of the UN Security Council and adopt a resolution with condemning an attack on the Kremlin.

In addition, the European Convention on the suppression of terrorism, which was ratified by the Russian Federation and Ukraine, allows us to demand the issuance of a person who committed a crime against a person under international protection. She also obliges the state if it does not want to issue a criminal, to pursue it in accordance with its legislation.

At the same time, the office of the President of Ukraine categorically denies involvement in the attack, and the permanent members of the UN Security Council (including France, Great Britain and the USA) have the right to vote - and they will surely take advantage of it.

In turn, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Putin in the Russian Security Council, after the blow of drones, demanded the “physical destruction” of Zelensky and his “clicks”, that is, he actually openly called to violate the same international conventions. Moreover, accordingto The Times, in March 2022, immediately after the start of a full -scale war, the Russian security forces have already attempted to kill the President of Ukraine.

Medusa editors