Ukraine conducted a large-scale UAV raid on the Russian capital, but it seemed unable to overcome the dense air defense network.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said 620 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were directed to the capital and the province of the same name between the evening of August 17 and 5 a.m. today, of which 180 aircraft were destroyed in the sky over Moscow province. "Emergency response forces are working at the site where the debris fell," he said.
This is the second time Ukraine has deployed more than 600 UAVs against the capital Moscow in the past few days. The most recent major attack took place on the evening of August 15 and the morning of August 16, with 201 aircraft destroyed in Moscow province.
Governor Andrey Vorobyov said the attack injured three people, including a 10-year-old girl. "Air defense and electronic warfare forces prevented a large-scale raid on Moscow province," he announced.
The most serious consequence recorded was a house burning down in Pavlovsky Posad district.
Governor Vorobyov added that the Ukrainian UAV fell on a warehouse of the Wildberries group in Moscow province and caused a fire, which has been controlled. Meanwhile, Wildberries announced that logistics infrastructure in Moscow province suffered only minor damage due to debris hitting the wall of a building.
AMK Mapping, the
"No aircraft reached the target. All were blocked by three air defense belts around Moscow, as well as mobile fire teams deployed in Ryazan, Tula, Kursk, Kaluga, Oryol and Smolensk provinces. A number of small fires broke out in Moscow province due to falling debris," this account said.
AMK Mapping believes that the number of UAVs can be used to attack targets near the border and cause greater damage, instead of "wasting on a useless attack" on Moscow. "Unlike Ukraine, Russia is far from running out of interceptor missiles. They also have enough mobile firepower groups and unmanned aerial vehicles to deal with Ukrainian UAVs," this account said.
Ukrainian officials have not commented on the information.
Since mid-July, Ukraine has attacked about 20 warehouses and infrastructure of Wildberries, on the grounds that this is a place to store and supply components for unmanned equipment (drones), navigation systems and other equipment of the Russian military. Russian officials and representatives of Wildberries denied the information, criticizing Ukraine for "attacking civilians and civil structures" in the above incidents.
Ukraine at the end of June launched a "40 days of pressure" attack campaign, with the main targets being oil refineries, oil depots, logistics centers, airports and many locations deep inside Russia and areas controlled by the country. Also during this period, Ukrainian forces raided many Russian commercial ships and logistics vehicles in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
Analysts assess that Kiev achieved some tactical successes, but did not fulfill the campaign's highest goal of pressuring and forcing Moscow to end hostilities. On the contrary, Russia has stepped up its response with missile and UAV raids targeting defense facilities specializing in producing UAVs used in Ukraine's campaign.
