343 enemy UAVs were shot down by air defense systems
The most massive attack by Ukrainian drones on the regions of Russia was carried out on the eve of the US-Ukrainian talks for a reason, the Russian Defense Ministry noted. In this way, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are trying to demonstrate their ability to continue fighting. In total, the Russian Armed Forces detected and shot down 343 UAVs, including about a hundred on approach to the capital. Three people died in Domodedovo. OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu, who is on a visit to Moscow, inspected the house in Vidnoye, Moscow region, where the UAV hit. Experts note that the drone strike will not affect Russia's negotiating position.
Mass attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by drones in the regions of Russia
On Tuesday night, the Russian Armed Forces repelled a massive drone raid by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The largest number of attacks occurred in the Kursk region (126) and the Moscow region (91). In addition, Bryansk (38), Belgorod (25), Kaluga (ten), Lipetsk and Oryol (eight each), Voronezh (six) and Nizhny Novgorod (three) regions were under attack, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Later, the military department clarified that 343 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were detected and shot down at night, including six in the area of the Kursk NPP.
"On the night of March 11, on the eve of the US-Ukrainian talks, the Kiev regime, in order to demonstrate Ukraine's ability to continue hostilities, launched a massive strike on the civilian infrastructure of the Russian Federation using unmanned aerial vehicles. By the professional actions of air defense combat crews and electronic warfare systems, the target of the Kiev regime's strike was thwarted," the ministry said in a statement.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Eduard Kornienko
Image source: iz.ru
As a result of the downed drones and fragments of downed vehicles falling on residential and economic infrastructure facilities, civilians were killed and injured, the Defense Ministry added.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that the most massive attack of enemy UAVs on the capital was repulsed at night. "74 UAVs were shot down on approach to Moscow, and hundreds of combat drones were shot down at different borders. Thanks to the air defense forces of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for their excellent work," said the mayor.
According to Andrey Vorobyov, Governor of the Moscow region, reports of drones were received from Kolomna, Zaraysk, Silver Ponds, Serpukhov, Ramenskoye, Voskresensk, Lukhovitsy, Bronnitsy, Domodedovo, Leninsky, Podolsk, Elektrostal and Kotelnikov. According to him, the largest number of victims and the greatest damage occurred in three municipalities. In the Leninsky Urban district, six people, including one four-year-old child, were injured by UAV debris. In Ramenskoye, seven apartments in a residential building on Severny Highway 6 were damaged.
In Domodedovo, the impact hit the parking lot next to the Miratorg production complex. A security guard was killed, and another man was taken to the hospital, but he could not be saved. Later, another victim died in Domodedovo hospital. All three are employees of Miratorg. "Judging by the damaging elements found, it was people who were the target. The fire in the parking lot has already been extinguished, and emergency services are on site. According to preliminary data, about 40 cars were damaged, and a list of damages is being compiled," said Andrey Vorobyov.
In total, at least 18 people were injured in the Moscow region, including three children.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Eduard Kornienko
Image source: iz.ru
The wreckage of one of the downed drones fell on a multi-storey residential building on the Northern Highway in Ramenskoye, the governor of the Moscow region said. According to him, at least seven apartments from the 19th to the 22nd floor were damaged.
Izvestia has a video from the scene at its disposal. The footage shows that a fire broke out on the top floor. The fire spread from floor to ceiling in the apartments. Ambulances and emergency services were on duty near the building. 12 people, including three children, were evacuated. Some of them were placed in a nearby gymnasium, the rest are now with relatives. None of them were injured.
Another incident was recorded in the Lipetsk region on the M-4 highway. The drone crashed at the toll booth on the highway in the Stanovlyansky district, four cars were damaged by fragments of the drone. The driver was also injured.
Temporary restrictions on aircraft arrivals and departures have been introduced at Moscow Domodedovo Airport. Eight flights were delayed, ten aircraft went to alternate airfields, the press service of the Federal Air Transport Agency reported. Train traffic in the direction of Domodedovo Airport was also stopped. Next, the departure of ships was suspended at Zhukovsky, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo airports. Currently, all restrictions have been lifted.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev
Image source: iz.ru
In the Kursk region, nine people were injured and hospitalized as a result of a UAV strike on a shopping center. "Four people are in intensive care, among them are two teenagers who were operated on by our doctors. Now the guys are stable, they are being prepared to be sent to Moscow for rehabilitation," said Acting Governor Alexander Khinstein.
The Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Feridun Sinirlioglu, who is on a visit to Moscow, assessed the consequences of the attacks by Ukrainian UAVs on an apartment building in Vidnoye, Moscow region. "The OSCE Secretary General, who arrived in Moscow on a working visit, was shown the consequences of a terrorist attack by drones of the Kiev regime on an apartment building in Vidnom," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote. She noted that this is not the first time a high-ranking foreign delegation has visited Moscow, which has been accompanied by an attack by Ukrainian drones.
The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case under the article "Terrorist act". According to the department, the exact launch sites of drones from the territory of Ukraine and the persons involved are now being determined. "As part of the investigation, the types of unmanned aerial vehicles and explosive devices, as well as the amount of damage caused, will be determined," the report says.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Mikhail Voskresensky
Image source: iz.ru
The air defense systems worked out normally during the raid — the air targets were really hit, the chairman of the board of the all-Russian organization Officers of Russia, Lieutenant Colonel Roman Shkurlatov, told Izvestia.
"It is difficult to find military expediency in this strike," he noted. — This is more of a political gamble. It took place against the background of important international events. In particular, a meeting of the American and Ukrainian delegations is taking place in the Middle East today, where the issue of a truce is to be discussed. Official Kiev proposed to include in it a clause proposing to stop the fighting on the water and in the air, but continuing them on land. Most likely, the night strike is a demonstration that Ukraine has the strength for war in the air. So, there is something to bargain about. But it's not profitable for us. We have total superiority in the air.
The expert noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had been saving up UAVs for a long time to strike, and the Russian Armed Forces carry out such attacks almost daily.
"Our country will not bargain on this issue," he said. — We have repeatedly stated that we do not need truces, but rather peace on sustainable and long-term terms.
Ukraine was able to carry out such an attack only thanks to technical means received from the West, military expert Alexei Leonkov told Izvestia.
— The rhetoric around Starlink is demagogic, no one turns anything off. And it is possible to strike at such a distance only with the participation of a satellite group," he noted. — This will be confirmed when Starlink routers are found on all more or less surviving UAVs, with the help of which operators aimed drones at objects. It can be seen that the attack was conceived as a massive combined strike. In this case, the drones come in waves, and each of them has its own purpose. So one of the groups of drones went specifically to Moscow facilities. The goal was to hit the airfield infrastructure of the capital. As we know from the reports, they hit Domodedovo, they did not reach Zhukovsky, but they hit a residential building nearby.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Eduard Kornienko
Image source: iz.ru
The expert noted that the air defense forces began to work much more efficiently — if such an attack had been carried out a year ago, it would have been more effective for the enemy, he believes.
"This time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces used drones made of composite materials, and plastid was used as an explosive," he said. — We also painted the drones black so that they would be difficult to spot from the ground when flying over the Bryansk, Kursk and Oryol regions. But the work on closing the gaps through which the enemy penetrates deep into our territory is carried out on an ongoing basis. Footage is now appearing online of drones falling out of control. And, unfortunately, we cannot control this, so there is destruction and casualties. There are shots where the UAV practically falls on a residential private house, but hits the electric line of the railway and falls on the canvas. But in general, we can say that the air defense and electronic warfare systems have mostly coped with their task.
What is Kiev trying to achieve by attacking the regions of Russia
This provocation on the part of Kiev is caused by the fact that negotiations on a deal with the Americans over resources are not going very well, and the American side insists that Ukraine take on tougher commitments to the peace process, Ivan Loshkarev, associate professor of political Theory at MGIMO, told Izvestia.
— Ukraine is now setting the task of disrupting the negotiation process in such a way that it does not look like their own action. They are trying to provoke Russia, to provoke some kind of response from the Russian side that would be perceived by the Americans as excessive," the expert noted.
Photo: REUTERS/SAUL LOEB
Image source: iz.ru
This is in many ways a desperate attempt, he added. Militarily, Kiev is no longer capable of large-scale offensives, solely operations in some kind of local format. Ukraine is definitely not capable of holding any such actions that would surprise Russian society and the international community. The Russian leadership does not make decisions under the influence of emotional factors, Ivan Loshkarev emphasized.
Against the background of failures on the battlefield and the difficult situation with receiving military aid and intelligence, Ukraine needs some kind of trump card, says political analyst Alexander Asafov.
— This is done to create your negotiating position. Ukraine is showing that it can do something else, it has ways to fight this conflict in the air," he said. — This attack once again shows the terrorist nature of the Kiev regime, when peaceful houses are attacked for political purposes, civilians are killed. At the same time, Ukraine declares that it intends to start talking about peace.
Kiev is counting on a retaliatory strike from Moscow in order to pose as a victim and bargain for more favorable terms from the United States, but a Russian response to the attack is unlikely: Moscow has already learned Kiev's tactics and is not going to follow them, political analyst Alice Kazelko believes.
Roman Kretsul
Kirill Fenin
Tatiana Vetrova
