Ukrainian drones exposes Russian airbase attacks

Web Desk

06th Dec, 2022. 07:10 pm
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Ukrainian state-owned weapons maker Ukroboronprom claims to have completed tests of a new drone.
Satellite and ground-based imagery suggests some damage was done to Russian military aircraft.
The Russian Defense Ministry alleges that Ukrainian drones, which it claims were shot down by Russian air defenses.

This week has seen a number of attacks against Russian military targets, drawing attention to Ukraine’s work on combat drones with longer ranges.

The Russian Defense Ministry alleges that Ukrainian drones, which it claims were shot down by Russian air defenses, were responsible for the attacks on two air bases on Monday and an attack on an air field on Tuesday.

Satellite and ground-based imagery suggests that some damage was done to Russian military aircraft at one location in the Ryazan region.

The explosions have received no official response from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, and the government of Ukraine has not recognized the acquisition of long-range attack drones.

A senior Ukrainian official did, however, tweet a coded message that suggested Kyiv might have been responsible for the strikes.

“The Earth is round – discovery made by Galileo. Astronomy was not studied in Kremlin, giving preference to court astrologers. If it was, they would know: if something is launched into other countries’ airspace, sooner or later unknown flying objects will return to departure point,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak posted.

A new long-range drone is nearly finished, according to many recent statements made by state-owned weapons maker Ukroboronprom.

In October, it posted on Facebook – along with an image of what appeared to be part of the drone’s structure: “Range is 1000 km (621 miles), weight of the combat unit is 75 kg (165 pounds). Putting the final touches on this one.”

A month later, on November 24, Ukroboronprom published another post: “The next stage of UAV testing – On behalf of the Chief of the General Staff, we are getting ready for flight tests under the action of electronic warfare.”

“Weather, on the one hand, becomes a problem, and on the other hand it’s an additional test for the complex. A kind of crash test.”

A photo showed the words “az vozdam” inscribed on what was purported to be the drone – meaning “I will repay.”

And on Saturday, company spokeswoman Natalia Sad was reported by news agency to have told Ukrainian television that “a number of stages of successful tests have been completed.”

“In accordance with the instructions of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, we are moving to the stage of tests involving an e-warfare jamming environment,” she added.

None of this drone’s preparation for deployment or its involvement in Russian explosives, however, have been made public.

According to the regional governor, a drone strike took place at an airfield on Tuesday morning in Russia’s Kursk district, which borders Ukraine.

“As a result of a drone attack, an oil tanker caught fire near Kursk airfield. There were no casualties. The fire is being localized. Emergency services are working at the site,” the region’s governor Roman Starovoit said on Telegram.

The Kursk Region official Telegram channel said that Moscow Railways was helping put the “fire out at the airport.”

Starovoit also said on Telegram that he had held a meeting of the “anti-terrorist commission” and decided to “extend the yellow level of terrorist danger” for another 15 days.

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A later message added that two schools had to cancel classes as a result of the incident.

One day prior to the attack, Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out drone attacks on two Russian military air bases.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukraine used drones to attack two Russian military airfields on Monday morning, adding that its air defenses intercepted the attacks “in the Saratov and Ryazan regions,” according to a statement carried on the official Russian news agency .

The two locations are hundreds of miles within Russian territory, far from Ukraine’s declared drone arsenal, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. There hasn’t been any video or photography of the drones’ wreckage released.

Around 6 a.m. local time on Monday, CCTV footage appeared to show an explosion lighting up the sky in the western Russian city of Engels, more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Moscow.

The strategic bomber airport Engels-2 is located in the port city and is roughly 3.7 miles (almost 6 kilometers) away from where the CCTV footage was shot.

Saratov region Governor Roman Busargin reassured residents on Telegram that no civilian infrastructure was damaged but said “information about incidents at military facilities is being checked by law enforcement agencies.”

He acknowledged information about “about a loud bang and a burst in Engels in the early morning” was spreading on social networks and the media.