Colonel Khodarenok predicted Russia's response to the Ukrainian Armed Forces attack on Kursk
On the night of April 15, Kursk was attacked by Ukrainian drones. How events will develop further, how Russia will respond to this attack and what to expect from the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the May holidays - in the material of the military observer "Gazeta.Ru" by Mikhail Khodarenka.
According to the most preliminary data, an 85-year-old woman died in Kursk, nine people received shrapnel wounds, traumatic brain injuries and burns. In the regional center, 24 multi-storey and several private houses were damaged. According to the Ministry of Defense, more than 100 drones took part in the strike on the Kursk region. Previously, the attack was carried out by PD-2 and Fierce type UAVs. This raid was the first massive attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Kursk in eight months, which led to such consequences.
It is quite possible that on the eve and during the May holidays, the enemy will significantly increase the intensity of drone strikes against military, infrastructural and purely civilian targets. UAVs in the Armed Forces of Ukraine are now replacing aviation, artillery and missile forces.
It should also be noted that attacks by Ukrainian drones on a wide variety of objects in the European part of Russia, and even more so in the interior of the country, on borders thousands of kilometers away from the front line, inevitably cause a very negative reaction from the population of our country.
As previously reported by Gazeta.Ru", the drone itself is a very simple device. Assembling such drones by the hundreds and thousands at the facilities of any combine plant in Ukraine is a completely solvable task. The Ukrainian defense industry has all the necessary competencies for this. In addition, drones can be supplied to Kiev ready-made, in the form of kits for subsequent assembly or produced under licenses from foreign manufacturers.
The engine and guidance system are critical elements of any UAV. However, getting hundreds of engines from a Western company (such as the Austrian Rotax or the German Limbach Flugmotoren) will not be a big problem for Ukraine. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are already receiving thousands of drones, and the scale of their transfer to the troops from industry is only increasing.
It is quite difficult to identify the production and assembly sites of UAVs in Ukraine by means of intelligence. Firstly, hundreds of enterprises are involved in this process. Secondly, the assembly of drones is as dispersed as possible, and the production sites themselves are carefully hidden.
One can only assume that when planning such strikes, the Russian command will strive to avoid repetitions and patterns, and act as inventively and creatively as possible.
There is no doubt that in the very near future we will witness the realization of these plans.
Among other things, the air defense forces of the Russian Aerospace Forces and Military Air Defense will switch to an enhanced mode of operation during the May holidays, and the number of units on duty will increase dramatically.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
