MOSCOW — With the Russian capital Moscow under drone attack, drone weapons appear to have entered the line of means and techniques of the uninterrupted military confrontation between Russia and Ukraine.
This comes after residential buildings in Moscow and its district were attacked at dawn on Tuesday using 8 drones around the same time, according to a number of Russian military experts.
According to a statement by the Russian Ministry of Defense, 3 of these drones were neutralized by electronic warfare forces, and the remaining five were shot down by the Pantser anti-aircraft missile system.
Since the beginning of the war on February 24 last year, Moscow and Kiev have resorted extensively to drones, relying on them in operations in which the attacking side is keen to evade the defensive networks and systems.
But in recent months, the drones have been used to strike targets deep inside the territory of both countries, which carries – to a greater extent – political messages and an attempt to cause moral damage than a military achievement, as happened in the attempt to target the Kremlin Palace in early May.
revenge
According to military expert Viktor Litovkin, the drone attacks on Moscow came in response to the strikes directed by Russian forces to Kiev, especially targeting the headquarters of military intelligence.
Litovkin confirms in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that Kiev is in dire need to achieve any media achievement to raise the morale of the armed forces and public opinion after the resounding fall of Pakhmut, and doubts that began to escalate in Ukraine about the army's ability to launch the counterattack promised by President Volodymyr Zelensky months ago, as well as the daily destruction of air defense systems near Kiev by Russian forces.
According to him, the Ukrainian drone attack on the capital area amounted to nothing more than "terrorism in its purest form", and there was no military meaning and feasibility except to damage some residential buildings without causing injuries.
Features
Strategist Roland Begamov pointed out that Kiev's intensification of the use of drones stems from the symbolic cost of this weapon and its ability to cause media noise without at the same time causing significant destruction of the sites it targets, which in turn could provoke political and military backlash, especially if these targets are civilian or symbolic in nature.
Begamov stressed that the type of drones used in the latest attack will not be a substitute for the rocket weapon, and their use will depend on the political and media messages to be delivered and not on the scale of destruction required.
According to him, Kiev wanted to study the work and mechanism of operation of air defense systems in order to detect their weaknesses and try to penetrate tactical targets.
He pointed out that it is virtually impossible to cover everything equally, as air defense systems are not absolutely prepared to deal with this type, which he described as "amateur drones", adding, "These targets are perhaps the most difficult, as flying these drones at low altitude makes them difficult to detect, since they are made of carbon fiber and have a small engine."
However, Begamov considers that the rapid reaction of Russian air defenses to the drone attack on Moscow is that this system works effectively and is able to recognize and destroy enemy military targets.
Gaps and transfer of battle
Military affairs expert Yuri Knotov said the Ukrainian-made UG22 drones were 22 percent developed by the Americans, which can fly 80 kilometers in one direction and about 800,1600 kilometers in total.
Knotov believes that what happened will not prevent Kiev from continuing to use drones to take the battle to cities in central Russia, including the capital.
He stressed the need to notify residents of Russian cities so as not to film or publish footage and videos showing the work of Russian air defense systems, which means that it will be easier for Ukrainian intelligence to locate Russian strategic military installations that could become the main target of a new attack.
In his view, it is now necessary to strengthen and modernize air defense systems, deal with these challenges at a higher and more serious level, and establish a more sophisticated early warning network.
Knotov points to objective problems in preventing drones from penetrating the airspace and reaching their targets, especially the very long lines of contact and battlefronts, which require the installation of a large number of stations to detect sensitive flying targets to be in a state of permanent readiness.
According to him, this is expensive compared to the low cost of such drones, explaining that the distance of 400 or 500 kilometers for such drones is not a major obstacle, as it takes only about 3-4 hours of flight to reach Moscow.