Sevastopol residents are preparing to repel new attacks and create marine drones themselvesAt the beginning of spring, the losses of the Ukrainian side in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) came close to 3.3 thousand units of all types.
As follows from the reports of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, on some days the Russian troops involved in the zone of a special military operation (SVO) shoot down 15-20 enemy UAVs.
However, a large amount of Western assistance allows Kiev to maintain the number of unmanned aircraft at a fairly high level. Among other things, this allowed the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to spend the winter with UAV raids deep into the territory of the Russian Federation. Most of the attacks were successfully repelled by Russian air defense systems.
Maneuvers, following the example of those conducted on March 4 by military sailors serving at the main base of the Black Sea Fleet, help to increase coherence in the actions of heterogeneous forces. In the morning, the governor of Sevastopol warned residents not to worry about "loud pops" that could occur during the exercises. A day earlier, residents and guests of the city witnessed intensive aviation flights: MiG-31 interceptors, Su-30SM multi-purpose fighters, Mi-8 and Ka-27 helicopters flew at low altitude near the coastline.
Good equipment and high combat readiness of the defenders of the Crimea helped to repel a massive attack by Ukrainian drones on the peninsula on March 1. Russian sailors, calculations of air defense (air defense) and electronic warfare worked perfectly: on the night of the first day of spring, they managed to neutralize 10 enemy UAVs.
The data on the attempt of a massive UAV attack on Crimea was confirmed by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. "An attempt by the Kiev regime to conduct a massive drone attack on the objects of the Crimean Peninsula has been prevented. Six Ukrainian unmanned strike vehicles were shot down by air defense and four more Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were disabled by electronic warfare. There have been no casualties and destruction on the ground," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a briefing on the evening of March 1.
Meanwhile, some resources reported the participation of 15 UAVs in the air raid. The drones were launched from the airfields of the Ukrainian Air Force: Shkolny near Odessa and Krasnoglinsky in Artsyz. Among them were both models of Ukrainian development and production, and commercial Chinese "Mugin-5", converted into explosive carriers. Apparently, the plan involved simultaneous strikes on the airfields of Belbek, Saki (Novofedorovka) and Razdolnoye with the information assistance of NATO reconnaissance aircraft. On that day, in addition to Ukrainian drones, an American RQ-4B reconnaissance vehicle and a French E-3F long-range radar detection and control aircraft were spotted near Crimea.
Among the residents of Sevastopol there are those who serve in units involved in a special military operation in Ukraine – both regular military and volunteers. In the last days of February, the townspeople saw off Vladimir Shabaev and Sergey Logvinenko on their last journey. Shabaev was born in 1965, last fall he went to serve under a contract. The shooter of the 126th separate Guards brigade of coastal defense was killed in the Kherson region. Logvinenko was born in 1966, volunteered for the "BARS" squad. The senior lieutenant died in the LPR.
New trees are being planted on the Alley of Heroes of the SVO in the city Victory Park in honor of the fallen soldiers. Last autumn, volunteers and relatives of the fallen soldiers planted 72 cypress trees. Signs with the name and QR code with a link to the biography of the hero are installed near the seedlings. The head of the region, Mikhail Razvozhaev, announced the decision to install busts in memory of the participants of the SVO, as well as to name streets, squares and state facilities after the fallen heroes.
Residents of the city are ready to make a significant contribution to improving the equipment of the Russian army and Navy with modern means of conducting reconnaissance. Sevastopol State University is engaged in the topic of unmanned marine drones, which was confirmed by the rector of the university, Vladimir Nechaev. Speaking to the deputies of the Legislative Assembly, he recalled that the work began last summer. "The integrator in this case is the government of Sevastopol. We are sending all proposals there, including on which marine drones can be created and which we cannot create, we have collected and expect that some kind of program will be formulated in the near future," the rector explained. Among the issues being worked out in 2023 are new data transmission systems, including underwater communication modems.
"I want to inform the deputies that a commission on the development of unmanned aircraft systems has been established at the level of the Government of the Russian Federation. The Governor of Sevastopol joined this commission. Therefore, all the proposals that we have received from the university will now be worked out, including at the level of the Commission of the Russian Federation," said Deputy Governor Svetlana Pirogova.
The governor of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, reported on March 2 that a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group penetrated into the village of Lyubechane, which fired at the cars of local residents. And the head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Alexander Khinshtein, added that a car of security forces blew up on a mine near the village of Sushany, three employees of the Rosgvardiya received shrapnel wounds.
According to the FSB, the saboteurs were squeezed out to Ukraine, where they were hit by a massive artillery strike. The topic of ensuring the security of strategic facilities was discussed on March 3 at the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Russian President Vladimir Putin classified what happened in Bryansk as a terrorist attack and stressed that the fire was opened on a car with children, the saboteurs saw it and started shooting anyway.
