UAV Attack Operations
The United States attempted to balance support for Ukraine against naked Russian agression against a concern that too direct involvement of the United States might provoke Russia into a nuclear response that could lead to a path of escalation that would quickly incenerate the Northern hemisphere. Hence the united States refrained from supplying Ukraine with longer range weapons such as ATACMS or F-16s which might be used to attack deep into Mother Russia, whilel being rather more generous with everything else, more or less. The United States was rther more forgiving of Ukrainian srikes into Russian territoriy using indedinous Ukrainian weapons, notably cruise missiles and drones. UJ-22 AIRBORNE drone can stay in the air for up to 6 hours in extreme weather. The aircraft can reach speeds of 160 kmh and cruise near 120 kmh while flying at altitudes up to 6,000 meters [hencc it could fly about 700-800 km on a one-way flight]. Other sources claim the UAV can fly at an altitude of up to 6,000 meters at a speed of 140-200 km/h and stay in the air for up to 14 hours, making it rather difficult to determine the range that the UJ-22 Airborne can operate. The straight-line distance from the center of Moscow to the Russian-Ukrainian border is about 450 km. The range of radio communication with the operator is provided at a distance of up to 100 kilometers. To counteract EW systems, the Xens inertial system was installed on board the UAV, which allows flying without GPS with the necessary coordinates. Chief engineer of "Ukrjet" Ihor Kramarenko told the website " Army Inform " that the accuracy of hitting the drone from a distance of 700 m is up to 10 m - a rather high indicator for unguided projectiles.
The UJ-22 is no more than dimly visible on the radar screen - carbon fiber is used in its construction, and the device itself, which flies rather slowly at a low altitude, is poorly seen by ground locators.
A Ukrainian drone strike 22 June 2022 caused a fiery explosion at an oil refinery in southern Russia that halted production at the plant. Video of a drone crashing into the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in the Rostov region appeared on social media and was posted on the YouTube channel of Ukraine’s land forces, which labeled it “holy fire.” Ukrainian authorities did’t comment.
Ukraine had apparently been running a covert, low-level campaign inside Russia in the early months of 2023, using drones and possibly special forces to attack military targets such as fuel depots and pipelines. For example, a Russian air base located hundreds of kilometers from the Ukrainian border, where strategic bombers are based, had been attacked twice. The Russian military claimed to have shot down drones in and around Moscow airspace. Russian ships and other targets in and around occupied Crimea, where the Russian Black Sea Fleet is based, had been hit repeatedly.
In addition to spot attacks, the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out massive UAV strikes on the territory of the Russian Federation. Thus, the massive strike by drones on February 27 in several regions of Russia became the largest such event since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Three drones fell or were shot down in Belgorod, another one over Suraz district in Bryansk region. At night, as a result of a drone strike, an explosion occurred at an oil depot in Tuapse, and another device fell in Adygea. On the morning of February 28, information appeared that another drone had fallen near a gas compressor station in the Kolomensky District of the Moscow Region. The Russian media even wrote with reference to security forces that he was carrying a certain combat charge. Judging by the photo from the place where the drone fell in Adygea, it was equipped with a turbojet engine - the turbine blades are clearly visible in the photo.
An unidentified flying object was spotted 160-200 km from St. Petersburg 28 February 2023. According to the Fontanka channel of Telegram, the Ministry of Defense reported this information through its channels to the Pulkovo service. In this regard, according to the established procedure, the St. Petersburg airport does not yet accept aircraft and does not give permission to take off. The Ministry of Defense does not provide any other information to the civil services. A source close to Smolny confirmed that the sky was closed due to an unidentified flying object. Fighters are in the air. Readers of Fontanka said that they can be heard even in the center: “The sounds are like at a parade.”
There were explosions overnight 28 February 2023 in the Russian city of Tuapse in Krasnodar Krai, followed by a fire at a Rosneft oil refinery. Of all the recent drone attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation, at least one UAV hit the target - the Rosneft oil depot in Tuapse (Krasnodar Territory). The city is located almost 500 km from the Ukrainian border. Quote from Russian Telegram channels: "There was an explosion at the Tuapse oil refinery, then a second one; the windows of nearby houses were blown out, it is not clear what is burning, but it looks like oil tanks."
A fire that broke out at an oil refinery in the southern Rostov region late on 03 May 2023 was the third apparent drone strike on a Russian warehouse in two days. An oil refinery caught fire in Krasnodar Region in southern Russia on 05 May 2023, emergency officials have said. Baza news outlet reported that the blaze broke out after the facility was struck by a Ukrainian drone.
On 23 February 2023, news began to spread in the Russian media about the fall of a strike drone in the Moscow region, 10 m from the Gazprom gas compressor station. In the remnants of the drone, the Russians recognized the alleged strike UJ-22 Airborne UAV, which was first demonstrated by UkrJet at the Arms and Security exhibition in 2021. Whether it was really a Ukrainian UJ-22 Airborne drone is still unknown. The strike on the suburbs of the Russian capital became a landmark, but not the only one, which confirmed the strength and capabilities of the Armed Forces.
The UJ-22 was seemingly involved in at least one if not attacks on the Moscow area. In the first instance photographs of a drone that supposedly crashed near Moscow apparently carried Ukrainian markings, though it cannot be excluded that this wreakage had been recovered from elsewhere and planted near Moscow. In the second instance, the identificaton of the drones was of low confidence, but appearead consistent wtih the size and configuration of the UJ-22. Presumably both incidents were the product of the same instigator, who may have used the same type drone for simplicity's sake. In both incidents, Russian sources depicted the intent as the assasination of President Puti, but such drones would make very poor instruments of a mission requiring rather exquisite precision.
Bild reported that Ukrainian intelligence had been plotting to assassinate the Russian leader using a kamikaze drone. The newspaper claimed that on 23 April 2023, a UJ-22-type aircraft, a modern Ukrainian drone had been launched in Ukraine but then crashed. The Ukrainian forces reportedly launched the UJ-22 drone, laden with 17 kilograms of C4 plastic explosives, from Ukraine with the aim of reaching a newly built industrial estate near Moscow that Putin was due to visit, German newspaper Bild claimed. But before the deadly drone reached the Rudnevo industrial park on its alleged mission to take out the Russian despot, it crashed mere miles away from the site.
Yuriy Romanenko, the Chief Editor of Ukrainian website Khvilya, who has alleged ties to Ukrainian intelligence sources, stated "Putin we are getting closer. Everyone saw the news about the drone that flew to Moscow, but did not explode? So, this drone flew for a reason. Last week, our intelligence officers received information about Putin’s trip to the industrial park in Rudnevo. Accordingly, our kamikaze drone took off, which flew through all the air defenses of the Russian Federation and crashed not far from the industrial park."
The Kremlin is not familiar with media reports that Ukrainian intelligence allegedly plotted the assassination of Russian President Vladimir Putin using a drone, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on 27 April 2023. "No, we are not familiar with these publications. Right now, there are a lot of such various ‘yellow-press-style fabrications.’ This does not mean that we should look into them," the Kremlin official said.
Russia's presidential office accused Ukraine 03 May 2023 of sending two drones to attack the Kremlin in a bid to kill President Vladimir Putin. The presidential press service said in a statement Wednesday that two unmanned aerial vehicles targeted the seat of the Russian government in Moscow. The statement says electronic warfare systems disabled them. It said debris fell in the Kremlin grounds but caused no damage. It said Putin was not harmed and his schedule will continue as usual. The attack on the Kremlin was foiled by local electronic warfare systems, which Ruassia claimed to have disabled and down the pair of unmanned aerial vehicles before they could reach their final targets.
The flight of drones at intervals of 16 minutes was recorded on several video recordings from surveillance cameras. Video appeared to show two drone strikes, one at 2:27 AM and another at 2:43 AM, Moscow Time. Thr 2.27 AM drone flew from the opposite direction in comparison with 2.43 AM drone. The first drone, which impacted the dome, caused a brief fire. nemalevich@pustota was first to notice that the second drone flew from another direction. In a recording of the second drone attack, part of the roof of the Senate Palace overlooking Red Square is seen burning briefly. Other videos show a flying object moving towards the dome and several people climbing a ladder to the roof, followed by an exploding object near the flagpole on the roof. The people climbing the dome are not present in the first of these videos, but appear in the second, suggesting they were responding to the fire caused earlier. This would be the second of two alleged drones. People were climbing the dome and running around with flashlights near the tower gates. Additionally, there must have been something that prompted the person who filmed this to start recording. It looked like someone is filming a screen from a CCTV recording with their smartphone. The reflection looks like office bulletin board.
Abraham Zapruder, filmed the motorcade with a 8-mm home movie camera as it drove through Dealey Plaza, inadvertently recording a sequence of events that included a fatal gunshot wound to the President. Over time, the more this film was analyzed, the less it was understood, spawning an immense industry of conspiracy theories.
Until May 3, 2023, the Kremlin was last bombed in 1942, when Nazi troops were closing in on Moscow. And before that, Napoleon attacked the capital - then the French troops entered the Kremlin, however, without much resistance.
The apparent target, the Kremlin Senate is a historic building located in the center of Moscow, Russia. Built in the 18th century, it was originally used as the main administrative building for the Russian Empire. Today, it serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation. The Kremlin Senate is divided into two parts - the Old Senate and the New Senate. The Old Senate was built in the 18th century and served as the seat of the Senate of the Russian Empire. The New Senate was built in the 19th century and was used as the headquarters of the Soviet government. Two copper layers on the Senate Palace's green dome were damaged from the drone attack on the Kremlin. The presidential administration assured that they would be replaced within a day. Russian President Vladimir Putin was not present at the Kremlin during the attack and continues carrying out his duties normally, The Russian leader rarely spends the night in the Kremlin, preferring to stay in the official state residence in Novo-Ogaryovo or in the luxurious palace in Sochi on the Black Sea.
The functioning, if any, of Russian defense could not be independently confirmed. One drone appreaed to detonate in the air a few doszen meters above the Senate dome. The other drone appearre to detone on impact with the dome. Local observers normally report that GLOLASS does not function in the vicinity ofthe Kremlin. But there were no streaks of light such as might be associated with a surface to air missile. Teh Russian claim to have intercepted the drones over the Kremlin would compensate for the evident failure of Russian air defense to intercept the drones prior to that time.
The attack came less than a week ahead of the Victory Day Parade in the Russian capital. "The Kremlin has assessed these actions as a planned terrorist act and an assassination attempt on the president on the eve of Victory Day, the May 9 Parade," state news outlet RIA reported. Putin is scheduled to give a speech in Red Square, near the Kremlin. The presidential office statement accuses the Ukrainian administration led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of carrying out the alleged attack. It called the incident "a pre-planned act of terrorism and an attempt on the life of the Russian president" and says Moscow "reserves the right to retaliate when and where it sees fit."
A spokesperson for Zelenskyy released a statement echoing the president's denial that Ukraine attacked either Putin or Moscow. The statement says Ukraine is "devoting all of its efforts and resources to the liberation of its own territories, not to attacking other countries." Zelenskyy denied the accusations, saying his country had not attacked Moscow or its president. "We don't attack Putin, or Moscow; we fight on our territory," Zelenskyy told a news conference in Helsinki, Finland. "We defend our villages and cities."
US think tank the Institute for the Study of War says an alleged drone attack on Russia's presidential office was likely staged by the administration of President Vladimir Putin. The think tank noted in its assessment that "Russian authorities have recently taken steps to increase Russian domestic air defense capabilities, including within Moscow itself." The institute said that "it is therefore extremely unlikely that two drones could have penetrated multiple layers of air defense and detonated or been shot down just over the heart of the Kremlin." It said that Russia likely staged the drone strike in an attempt to "set conditions for a wider societal mobilization."
The United States is responsible for the drone attack on the Kremlin because "decisions on such attacks are made not in Kiev, but in Washington," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "Washington should understand clearly that we know this," the spokesman told reporters. Russia reserves the right to retaliate "anywhere and anytime it deems necessary" in response to the drone attack on President Vladimir Putin's residence, the Kremlin said. Senior Russian lawmaker Vyacheslav Volodin has called on Moscow to use any weapons necessary to remove the "Nazi regime" in Kiev. "The Kiev terrorist regime, having seized an entire state, threatens the security of Russia, Europe, and the whole world," the Duma official added. Volodin proclaimed that there "can be no negotiations with the Zelensky regime" following the attempted attack on the Kremlin, and vowed that Russian lawmakers will "demand the use of weapons capable of stopping and destroying the Kiev terrorist regime."
"After today's terrorist act, there are no options left but the physical removal of Zelensky and his clique," Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev stated. "We don't need him to sign [their] unconditional surrender. Hitler, as it is known, didn't sign his either. There will always be someone like Admiral Doenitz to sit in as president," he added.
Commenting on the attack, former CIA intelligence officer Larry Johnson said it "is going to galvanize Russia, not create fear or discontent or division. There are others who believe that by doing this, it is going to portray Russia as weak and create internal problems. I simply note that the reactions of former [Russian] President [Dmitry] Medvedev, as well as members of the Duma – they are livid, they are outraged, and calling for escalatory retaliation against Ukraine. So I think in many respects this backfired."
Johnson believed Kiev may have targeted the Kremlin deliberately to provoke Russia into a major escalation, thus allowing the US to intervene in the conflict directly. "Ukraine at this point is in a very desperate situation, and they're looking for any way out. And I think they perceive as one of the only ways out is to get the United States more deeply involved in this conflict," the observer explained.
The veteran intelligence officer noted, US President Joe Biden's entire foreign policy team has been "relentless in their desire to confront Russia," risking further escalation of the conflict rather than de-escalation. "They're trying to put a band aid on a sucking chest wound, the policy basically, the US policy in Ukraine and foreign policy across the board, is in collapse. It's in freefall. The United States is not accomplishing its goals," Johnson argued.
“Let's be clear about what this isn't,” says James Nixey, head of the Russia and Eurasia program at London-based think tank Chatham House. “This is not an assassination attempt on Vladimir Putin. Only the Kremlin itself is talking about the assassination attempt.” Nixey noted in an interview with RFE/RL "The two most likely options are either a 'warning shot' from Kiev saying 'see what we can do' or a 'false flag' operation by Moscow to justify more intense attacks on Ukraine or more conscription."
The Institute for the Study of War assessed that "Russia likely staged this attack in an attempt to bring the war home to a Russian domestic audience and set conditions for a wider societal mobilization. Several indicators suggest that the strike was internally conducted and purposefully staged. Russian authorities have recently taken steps to increase Russian domestic air defense capabilities, including within Moscow itself, and it is therefore extremely unlikely that two drones could have penetrated multiple layers of air defense and detonated or been shot down just over the heart of the Kremlin in a way that provided spectacular imagery caught nicely on camera.... The Kremlin’s immediate, coherent, and coordinated response to the incident suggests that the attack was internally prepared in such a way that its intended political effects outweigh its embarrassment.... It is very likely that the official Russian response would initially have been much more disorganized as Russian officials scrambled to generate a coherent narrative and offset the rhetorical implications of a clear informational embarrassment. The Kremlin has notably failed to generate a timely and coherent informational response to other military humiliations not of its own making... The rapid and coherent presentation of an official Russian narrative around the strike suggests that Russia staged this incident in close proximity to the May 9th Victory Day holiday in order to frame the war as existential to its domestic audience.... "
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