Diksia.com - Repeated attacks by Ukrainian drones on Moskva-City, an elite Moscow district that is the economic, business and political center of the Russian capital, are seen as Kiev’s great message to Vladimir Putin’s government.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, who is filming the latest episode of Ukrainecast, said Ukraine’s drone strike on Moscow was likely to have caused “minor” damage.
However, the psychological impact on the Russian government can be enormous.
At its simplest, the appearance of Ukrainian drones in the heart of the capital, no matter how the Kremlin claims to have shot them down, proves that Moscow’s air defenses are impregnable.
“The repeated drone strikes on Moscow – more specifically in the Kremlin, in elite neighborhoods, in a city on par with Canary Wharf or Wall Street – are a message to Russia’s political elite,” he said.
“The fact that Ukraine can penetrate Russian air defenses should be a cause for concern,” he said.
Although this attack was “tiny” compared to the Russian bombing of Ukraine, it reminded Russia that war was imminent.
“Unfortunately, this is our new reality,” said Masha, a civilian from Moscow.
“People in the city just want to live in peace,” he said.
Nonetheless, he still feels safe in Moscow and still lives his everyday life without fear, he added.
Frank Gardner also pointed out that this also contradicts Ukrainian citizens.
He recalled an anecdote from Zaporizhia in south-eastern Ukraine.
Gardner said he was amazed that people continued to go to the beach or celebrate weddings despite hearing explosions every night and knowing who had been killed.
“People have to live on,” he said.
Gardner continues the discussion on the drone war as Ukraine and Russia frequently use drones to penetrate enemy lines.
“It’s difficult to estimate how many drones Kiev or Moscow have,” he said.
In its latest attacks over the past few days, Ukraine is believed to have used its new “kamikaze” unmanned vehicles to attack Moscow.
Weapons experts say the drone war that took place in Ukraine is now being felt in the heart of the Russian capital.
Open-source intelligence reports suggest a potential Ukrainian “Beaver” drone was behind the recent attack on Moscow, which the Kremlin has blamed on Kyiv.
Ukraine rarely officially declares responsibility for drone strikes on Russian territory, but Ukrainian officials occasionally take to social media to highlight such attacks.
In his evening address on Sunday (July 30, 2023), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not say that Kiev was behind the latest attack on Moscow.
But he said that “the war is gradually returning to Russian territory.”
“And this is ‘an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process.’” Zelenskyy told the BBC.
Not much is known about the Beavers drone, but experts have analyzed what they can tell from the footage, which appears to show it was targeting Moscow.
The Beaver drone is generally similar to the Iranian-made Shahed drone.
According to Justin Bronk, a senior researcher at the London-based think tank Royal United Services Institute, this drone is also known as the Geran-2 disposable attack drone, a drone that Russia frequently uses for attacks on Ukraine.
“From the available images and video, the drone used to attack Moscow appears to be of comparable weight and size to the Shahed, although it has a slightly larger wingspan,” he told Newsweek.
The Beaver appears to have a relatively small petrol engine, he added, but is believed to have a range of more than 1,000 kilometers, or about 620 miles.
UK-based drone expert Steve Wright describes the Beaver as a canard aircraft with a small front wing in front of the main wing, giving it a “very distinctive shape”.
“The drone flies very slowly and very steadily, with a clear emphasis on range,” he told Newsweek.
“Similar drones, or at least parts of the Beaver design, have been around for years, although there is no evidence that the Beaver in the form shown over Moscow was used prior to the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022,” said the analyst.
Akshara Parakala, senior aviation analyst at Defense Intelligence Agency Janes, told Newsweek that this particular type of UAV has not been observed in other parts of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict either.
Footage currently available shows the drone has an internal combustion engine, experts say.
“It was equipped with propellers and landing gear, suggesting it was launched from the runway,” Wright said.
“Drones similar to the ‘Beaver’ typically operate at an altitude of about 18,000 feet,” Parakala said, citing Jane’s research.
What’s less clear is how well the “Beaver” drone handles navigation distractions – something Shahed excels at.
“The unmanned aerial vehicles developed in Iran use a form of navigation that makes jamming or spoofing less effective,” Bronk said.
