Our air defense units figured out the plans of the VFU and intercepted almost all air targets
Russian law enforcement agencies knew about the upcoming massive attack of Ukrainian drones on our territory — this is what made it possible to repel it, a source told Izvestia in the Russian Defense Ministry. On the night of November 26, a drone strike hit the DPR and five regions — Moscow, Tula, Kaluga, Bryansk and Smolensk. More than 30 UAVs and two S-200 anti-aircraft missiles were shot down and intercepted. It is noteworthy that a similar Russian attack that occurred a day before turned out to be much more effective — military facilities were damaged in Kiev, energy infrastructure was damaged. Experts attribute this success to the use of new modernized attack UAVs — unobtrusive and with an increased flight range.
Multiple waves
On the night of November 26, the Ukrainian army carried out a massive air raid on the Russian regions with the help of attack drones. The Donetsk People's Republic and five regions — Moscow, Tula, Kaluga, Bryansk and Smolensk - were attacked.
The Russian Defense Ministry officially announced several waves of an airplane-type UAV raid. The attacks ended only around 10 a.m. Moscow time.
As a source told Izvestia in the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, air defense and electronic warfare units intercepted more than 30 drones in total. Two more Ukrainian S-200 anti-aircraft missiles, converted for firing at ground targets, were shot down over the waters of the Sea of Azov on the morning of November 26.
— We knew about this attack, we were preparing for it, despite attempts of disinformation from the enemy. There were several false attacks on the eve and information stuffing from the VFU, — the interlocutor of the publication explained.
Details of the night raid
The object of the Ukrainian drone strike once again was not military targets in the area of its own, but peaceful cities and regions.
The main target was the Donetsk People's Republic. The head of the region Denis Pushilin reported damage to several energy facilities. Human casualties were avoided.
— At night, the enemy tried to damage the power system of the region. Unfortunately, due to the massive impact, not everything was shot down. Damage is being recorded, as a result of which part of the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic was de-energized. Some cities and districts of the republic were left without electricity. As a result, a number of boiler houses do not supply heat, emergency crews are working," the head of the republic said.
In the Tula region, a Ukrainian drone, having lost control, crashed into a multi-storey residential building. Governor Alexey Dyumin told about the injury received by one of the residents of the house and the damage to several apartments.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin told about the attempt of a mass air attack on the capital. All drones were destroyed in Naro-Fominsk, Odintsovo, Ramenskoye and Podolsk urban districts of the Moscow region. The regional governor Andrey Vorobyov also reported on the night attack, adding about minor damage to several buildings. Also, the governors of the Kaluga, Smolensk and Tula regions reported on the downed drones.
A source of Izvestia in the Ministry of Defense confirmed that an air attack on Moscow was launched from several directions. The VFU is trying to find gaps in the air defense of the capital.
— The enemy can't come up with anything new. They launch different types of vehicles that go to Moscow from different directions and at different heights. In parallel, NATO's radio intelligence is working, monitoring the work of our air defense," the source explained.
New and inconspicuous
The VFU night attack was an attempt by the Kiev regime to respond to a successful air raid on the capital of Ukraine on the night of November 25. Russian drones hit not only military facilities in Kiev, but also caused significant damage to the energy infrastructure.
— A record number of attack UAVs were released in Ukraine — about 75 pieces, said the commander of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Nikolay Oleshchuk.
Despite Saturday's statement by the Ukrainian military about the destruction of almost all air targets, emergency power outages occurred in Kiev. According to the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, 77 residential buildings and 120 institutions were left without electricity in Kiev, 330 kV power lines were disconnected in the Kiev region.
The VFU reported on the use of new types of unobtrusive attack drones by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which significantly complicate the work of air defense. The press officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yuri Ignat, admitted that the Ukrainian air defense has not yet learned how to deal with inconspicuous Russian drones.
— Now we see that carbonomaterial was used. Carbon fiber, which is an absorbing material for the radar signal, and black color — it is clear why. This complicates the work of air defense, namely the visual binding of mobile firing groups to the target.
According to Izvestia, we are talking about modernized attack UAVs, the further development of the Geran-2 type, which has been actively used by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation since the end of 2022. The peculiarity of the new "Geranium" is the increased flight range and low visibility provided by the use of composite materials and the black color of the hull.
According to open sources, the new drone carries up to 50 kg of explosives, moves at speeds up to 250 km / h at a range of about 2 thousand kilometers.
The video of the air attack on Kiev on the night of November 25 was published the day before by the Reuters news agency and the British newspaper Sun. The footage shot by Western journalists shows the hum of the engines of Russian drones, the rays of searchlights darting across the sky, random shooting and the sounds of explosions. The publication of this video has already caused a scandal in Ukraine. The Kiev regime prohibits local residents and Ukrainian media from shooting and publishing videos about the work of Ukrainian air defense, as such videos destroy the myths of Ukrainian propaganda that allegedly all air targets are successfully destroyed.
Vladimir Zelensky was also not helped by the concentration in the Kiev region of almost all new air defense systems supplied by the West, including the American Patriot air defense system. On November 25, Zelensky even had to interrupt his briefing in Kiev because of an air raid siren. It is noteworthy that during this speech, the Ukrainian president announced the strengthening of air defense in the Odessa region, where the Russian army almost daily strikes the identified ground targets with missile weapons and drones.
The Ukrainian authorities seriously fear the destruction of Ukraine's energy system this winter. The head of Ukrenergo, Vladimir Kudritsky, in an interview with Western journalists, admitted that electricity generation in Ukraine today is only a third of the level of 2021, and any serious damage to energy infrastructure facilities can lead to collapse.
The Ukrainian military themselves complain about the inability of the Ukrainian air defense to shoot down new Russian drones on the Internet. According to them, Russian "Geraniums" and "Lancets" dominate the air on the front line, continuously hitting fortified areas and armored vehicles.
Andrey Krasnobayev