In total, at least six regions have been affected in recent hours, authorities said on Wednesday. Four Il-76 transport aircraft were damaged at the airport in the city of Pskov, Russian news agency TASS reported, citing rescue teams. Two machines caught fire.
The airport, operated by the Russian military, will remain closed to civilian air traffic on Wednesday, it said. A video shared by Governor Mikhail Vedernikov showed a large fire and thick black smoke above the airport, while explosions and sirens could be heard. Reports spoke of a drone swarm of up to 20 flying objects. A fuel depot was also hit, Russian exile media outlet Meduza reports.
Airfield drone attacks
Drone attacks on Russian military airfields continue – Pskov, on the border with Estonia, was affected last night. Four aircraft were damaged.
Flight over Belarus?
Pskov, capital of the region with the same name, is located about 660 kilometers north of the border with Ukraine and close to the borders with Latvia and Estonia. The great distance raises questions: it is known that drones can travel several hundred kilometers. However, it is unclear how they have managed to fly so far unnoticed by Russia – and possibly also Belarus.
debate
Ukraine: What prospects for peace?
Because if the drones were not launched in the eastern part of the country controlled by Ukraine, the shortest route to Pskov would also pass through Belarusian airspace. Military experts suspect that Russia may have moved air defense systems to the war zone – and is therefore more exposed at home.
Pro-Russian commentaries speculated that the drones could also have been launched from Estonia or Latvia. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the drones could not have traveled such a distance without information from the West. The attacks would not go unpunished.
Attacks in other regions
Russian authorities also reported that Ukrainian drones were also shot down in the Russian regions of Moscow, Bryansk, Orlov, Ryazan and Kaluga. In Bryansk, Ukraine, it attempted to attack a television tower with the aircraft, Russia said. However, the target was most likely the country’s largest microelectronics manufacturer, the company Kremniy EL. The main customer is the Russian army.
According to Russian media, a Ukrainian UAV hit the SILICON EL factory in Bryansk, “one of the largest microelectronics companies in Russia.” pic.twitter.com/1CKIwj65Pa
-OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 29, 2023
Several explosions in Bryansk were reported on social media. Neither this information nor the Russian reports could be independently verified. Initially there was no statement from the Ukrainian side. However, the Kiev government is generally very tight-lipped about statements about drone strikes on targets in Russia.
Targets on Russian territory have been attacked by drones for months; at the end of July there were a series of attacks in Moscow. Phillips O’Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, wrote at the time: “It is a political campaign aimed at weakening Russians’ faith in the effectiveness of their own state,” according to the BBC. there have been 190 drone attacks on Russian soil since the beginning of the year.
“Strategic Campaign”
But the fact that concerted attacks against multiple targets are now occurring at the same time indicates a new strategy. Australian military expert Mick Ryan has now written in a Substack entry about an independent “strategic campaign” that “is intended to have strategic political and military effects on the Ukrainian war effort.” The aim is likely to weaken Russia’s military capabilities by “forcing the relocation of air defense radars and other systems.” Furthermore, public opinion in Russia should be influenced.
“No panacea”
Ryan suspects that as the winter months approach, these strategic attacks will become even more important and visible because ground maneuvers are difficult in the cold, wet season. During this time, progress in the war could be communicated to the West privately.
But Ryan also warns against overestimating the impact of these attacks: “While the long-range strikes carried out by the Ukrainians are crucial, they are not a panacea and will not win the war on their own.”