After military drones that the Kremlin said were fired by Ukraine went deep within Russian territory, including one that came within 60 miles of Moscow – a breach in Russian defenses – Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered tighter protection along its border with Ukraine.
But, the strikes on Monday night and Tuesday morning, February 28, aroused concerns about Russian defensive capabilities more than a year after Moscow invaded Ukraine. Russian officials claimed the drones did not result in any injuries or substantial damage.
Officials from Ukraine have not yet taken responsibility, but they have refrained from directly taking responsibility for earlier attacks and sabotage in Russia.
Although Putin made no specific mention of any attacks during his speech in the Russian capital on Tuesday night, his remarks came after drone attacks hit a number of locations in southern and western Russia, as well as after officials had closed the airspace over St. Petersburg in response to what some reports claimed was a drone in the area.
According to Russian authorities, the drone assaults were directed towards areas of Russia that were farther within the nation and closer to the Ukrainian border.
Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the area surrounding the capital, reported that a drone had crashed close to the village of Gubastovo, 60 miles southeast of Moscow.
According to a statement from Vorobyov, the drone did not do any harm. He didn’t say the drone was Ukrainian exactly, but he did say it probably targeted “a civilian infrastructure asset.”
Although the drone apparently has a range of around 500 miles, it is not equipped to carry a significant amount of explosives.
Local governor Aleksandr Bogomaz reported in a Telegram message that Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian drone early on Tuesday over the Bryansk region.
On Monday night, three drones also attacked the Belgorod region of Russia, which is close to the Ukrainian border; one of them, according to local authorities, flew through a window of an apartment in the capital, Belgorod. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor, claimed that the drones caused minor damage to vehicles and buildings.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukraine attacked installations in the Krasnodar region and the adjoining Adygea region using drones. It added that one of the drones fell into a field and another deviated from its intended flight path, missing the infrastructure facility it was intended to strike. It claimed that the drones were brought down by electronic warfare capabilities.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, air defense training exercises are being held in western Russia.
Russian officials regularly claimed to have shot down Ukrainian drones over the Crimean peninsula last year. The Russian military claimed in December that Ukraine employed drones to attack two long-range bomber bases located deep within Russian territory.
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