/ world today news/ On Wednesday evening, Ukraine attacked the Kremlin with two drones. The incident was classified as a terrorist act and an attempt against the President of Russia. What are the technical characteristics of the attack, what is its real purpose and what options does Russia have to respond to this terrorist attack?
On Wednesday, it became known that during the night “the Kyiv regime made an attempt to attack the Kremlin residence of the President of the Russian Federation with unmanned aerial vehicles.” This was announced by the press service of the president.
“As a result of timely actions of the military and special services using radio-electronic warfare systems, the machines were disabled. As a result of their fall and the scattering of fragments on the territory of the Kremlin, there were no victims and no material damage,” the message says.
At the same time, the attack itself was evaluated in the Kremlin “as a planned terrorist act and an attempt against the president, carried out on the eve of the Victory Day, the parade on May 9, at which the presence of foreign guests is also planned. .” The Russian side also reserves the right to take retaliatory measures wherever and whenever it sees fit.
At the time of the incident, Vladimir Putin was not in the Kremlin, then he was working in the Novo-Ogarevo residence near Moscow, his press secretary Dmitry Peskov revealed. The parade on Red Square on May 9 will take place, Putin will participate in the celebrations, Peskov added.
Zelensky’s entourage immediately began to deny participation in the terrorist attack, and this was done in the same style as previous “denials” in the case of terrorist attacks. As Zelensky’s press secretary Sergey Nikiforov pointed out, “this is clearly an escalation of the situation before May 9.” And the service adviser Mihail Podoliak claims that “Ukraine does not attack objects on the territory of Russia.”
Technical aspects
“It is still not possible to determine the characteristics of the drone from the available video footage, but it is clear that it is an aircraft-type device with a take-off weight of more than 20-30 kg and a wingspan of three to five meters,” said Alexey Rogozin, head of the Center for the Development of Transport Technologies.
“It is not yet known whether the drone was launched from the territory of Ukraine or, for example, from the Moscow region. Both options are technically feasible but differ in planning and cost,” he said.
The interlocutor suggested that the drone was immune to electronic interference up to a certain point. This can be solved in several ways. For example, it can be equipped with a special anti-jamming navigation antenna for military purposes, the price of which starts at $10,000,” the expert claims.
“It is less likely, but it is also possible that the drone was operated from a distance of several kilometers. In this case, navigation and guidance is provided by the operator manually using a video stream received from the drone’s cameras,” the source added.
“You must understand that such aircraft-type stray munitions are a new type of threat, the methods of countering which are only now being developed. Russian engineers are working on it, but it will take a few more months before we learn how to counter them effectively,” Rogozin believes.
“Judging by the published footage, it is indeed not a quadcopter, but an aircraft-type device. The capabilities of such devices, as we have repeatedly seen, fully allow them to reach the Moscow region if they are launched from the territory of Ukraine, and sometimes even fly further from Moscow,” adds Denis Fedutinov, editor-in-chief of the magazine “Unmanned Aviation”. .
“At the same time, the possibility of the device being launched by a sabotage-reconnaissance group directly from the territory of Russia cannot be ruled out. This, for example, can be done within the Moscow region, which will significantly increase its chances of reaching the center of the capital,” he said.
“Judging by the video, the UAV was flying at a low altitude to reduce the possibility of detection and destruction. In addition, the video does not show any traces of an external kinetic impact on the plane,” the expert said.
How to everything answerAnd?
Meanwhile, an active discussion began in the media and the blogosphere on the topic of what Russia’s response to such a terrorist attack could be. One of the most common options is a symmetrical strike on the so-called decision-making centers in Kyiv, which are located on the streets “Bankova” (the Presidency), “Grushevsky” (the Council and the Government), “Vladimirska” (SBU), ” Electrotechnical” (GUR of Ukraine), “Mikhailovska” (MVR) and “Povitroflotska” (Ministry of Defense).
Others, on the contrary, suggest hitting not so much the collection centers as the people who collect them. At the same time, everyone is unanimous that this terrorist attack has, above all, an informational, psychological and symbolic nature, corresponding to the PR traditions of both Zelensky himself and his colleagues in the presidential office from “Kvartal 95”.
“What happened was a terrorist act at the state level, carried out by representatives of the illegal regime that came to power in a coup in 2014. Therefore, the attitude towards them – the organizers of this action – should be like terrorists”, says Konstantin Dolgov, a member of Federation Council, former deputy representative of Russia at the UN.
According to him, “Russia has all the necessary legal framework” to respond to the terrorist attack and no additional decisions are needed at the legislative level. “There is no need for unnecessary emotions. The authorities, including the commander-in-chief, have all the necessary powers, so the current situation is yet to be resolved and continued,” the senator believes. Dolgov also believes that now it is important to “unite around the president and work for victory.”
“The terrorist attack is another proof that we absolutely correctly started the Special Military Operation and continue it. Because the threat to our security will exist just as long as this criminal regime in Kyiv exists,” says Dolgov.
At the same time, political analyst Yevgeny Minchenko believes that after the attack on the Kremlin, “Vladimir Putin has every right to refuse those security guarantees to Volodymyr Zelensky, which he gave earlier during a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.” The interlocutor also believes that Moscow should not now announce options for responding to the terrorist attack.
“Otherwise, these options can be looked at by our opponent, which will play to their advantage.” In addition, I do not see an urgent need to change the legal framework in any way, in case a decision is made to destroy certain persons”, stressed the political scientist.
“The attack itself really doesn’t require any special response. No need for pathos and anger. Our task is to continue and finish what was started in Ukraine. The only thing that makes sense now is to step up security measures. Obviously, this was an attack aimed at a psychological effect – that’s how it should be viewed, “adds the political scientist, professor from the Higher Institute of Higher Education Marat Bashirov.
In turn, the military correspondent of “Komsomolskaya Pravda” Alexander Kots sees no point in “hitting the Bank or another important brick building.” “There is no need to open criminal cases against those who attack our president, our journalists, those who kill residents of Donetsk on a daily basis. They must be destroyed. Let’s hit not the centers, but the decision-makers. Methodical, systematic and ruthless. The enemy on our territory is doing this systematically,” Kots said on his Telegram channel.
TV journalist Andrey Medvedev believes that “if there are no sources of threat, there will be no UAV over Moscow”: “Accept the fact that the world is not perfect, that we have lied to ourselves a lot, that we have not been good at everything, but we are improving in motion. Not as fast as you’d like. We try. Well, the enemy is cunning and skilled in PR”.
“So what’s next? It doesn’t matter. There is no disaster. There is an unpleasant situation. But no one died from it. Now we must fight. Let’s learn from our mistakes. It is necessary to work, to produce new weapons. To destroy the enemy. Then there will be no sources of threat and no UAVs over Moscow. And there is no need to lament and think that all is lost. And in the days of victories, which will be certain, one should not rejoice too much. The road to the main victory is long. Keep your cool,” he finished.
“What will be the reaction to this?” First, significant successes at the front. Second, the intensive development of those branches of industry which are the basis of our military power. Third, effective diplomacy in working with the countries of the “world majority”, which are not particularly interested in the circus with UAVs over the Kremlin,” says Kyiv-based political scientist Aleksey Nechaev.
“We will not be deterred by the physical isolation of Western Ukraine from NATO countries – purely to solve the key military-logistical task of the SVO and targeted ‘influence’ on enemy decision-makers. Everything else, including strikes on the government quarter in Kiev, does not seem like an effective way to solve the problems. It is better to concentrate forces and resources on really important things,” concluded Nechaev.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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