Explosions over Crimean Bridge and strategic plant, drone attack on Moscow: weekly overview 

Read more about explosions in Russia and the temporarily occupied territories in the weekly Espreso review.

People in Moscow are now used to hearing explosions

This week in Russia's capital, the sounds of anti-aircraft fire have been heard several times. The authorities say they shot down all the drones. However, Moscow's infrastructure got damaged.

• On August 9, there was another drone attack on Moscow. The Mayor of Moscow, Sobyanin, said two drones attacked the city, but they were taken down by the air defense system. There's no news about anyone getting hurt from the wreckage.

• On the night of August 10, more explosions happened near Moscow. An explosion and a big fire occurred in Domodedovo. People who saw it said it was due to the air defense, but officials said there was an explosion at a car service and two drones were downed. Domodedovo is 37 km south of Moscow's center. It's known because one of Moscow's airports is located there. Also, because of the explosions at Vnukovo, another Moscow airport, 11 flights got delayed. There were also reports of UAVs attacking Moscow during the night. According to the mayor, around 04:00 local time, one drone was shot down in the Kaluga region, and another in the Central Ring Road area.

• On August 11, Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said again that they shot down a drone that Ukraine supposedly used to try to attack Moscow. He mentioned that no one got hurt when debris fell near the Karamyshevskaya embankment. There wasn't any significant damage either. Russian media added that the drone flew over the Moskva River at about 150 meters in altitude. The drone's wreckage fell in the parking area of the 67th city hospital. This is the seventh attack on Moscow and the surrounding region this month.

An explosion happened at a factory in Russia that was making a new bomber

On August 9, there was a big explosion in the morning at a factory in Sergiev Posad, near Moscow in Russia. Until Wednesday evening, the Russian authorities said that about 60 people had been injured, and 8 people are missing. They also said that around 20 tall buildings and 4 places where people gather were damaged.

The Russian representatives say that the reason for this happening is “technological issues.” They say that the idea that a drone caused the explosion is not true.

What is interesting is that this factory near Moscow was helping to create a new kind of Russian stealth bomber called Poslannik.

Traffic is often stopped on the Crimean Bridge nowadays 

• On Wednesday, August 9th, there were explosions heard in the Dzhankoy district in Crimea. The authorities in charge said they were training their troops for dealing with radiation, chemicals, and biological threats. However, they closed the Crimean Bridge again for a while and stopped all vehicles.

• Also, during the night of August 10th, there were explosions in occupied Sevastopol. The Defense Ministry of Russia said that 11 drones had attacked. They said that there were no injuries or damage.

• The night of August 12th was quite eventful near the Crimean Bridge. People who spread information for Russia said that they briefly stopped traffic. The authorities in control talked about an attack by 20 drones. They said that their defense forces destroyed 14 of them, and another 6 were stopped using the EW technology. Nobody was hurt.

• Just a little while later, there were more loud sounds near the Crimean Bridge. Around noon on August 12th, the leader of the Russian administration in charge of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, talked about how Ukraine's Defense Forces tried to launch missile attacks on the Crimean Bridge. He claimed that they managed to stop two missiles. According to the officials, the bridge didn't get damaged and nobody was injured. Russia's Defense Ministry said it was an "S-200 anti-aircraft missile changed into a missile for attacking." After that, a few hours later, there were more explosions, and the Russian officials said they had stopped another Ukrainian missile.

• On August 13th there was a fire in Mariupol due to actions by Ukrainian partisan fighters.

Explosions were heard in the regions of Belgorod, Kursk, and Kaluga

• On August 9, “something” fell in the village of Kolotilovka, Belgorod region. The Russian authorities announced a victim. The Belgorod region governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, mentioned a possible object fall that caused a haystack on a private property to catch fire. The governor also said that someone died, possibly due to an attack in the village of Gorkovsky in the Graivoron city district.

• The Russian authorities also reported that a drone was shot down in the Kaluga region on the morning of Saturday, August 12. During the night, air defense equipment worked in the Dzerzhinsk district. No damage was reported.

• On the evening of Saturday, August 12, Russia accused Ukraine of a drone attack once again. According to them, Russian air defense destroyed a Ukrainian strike drone over the Belgorod region.

• The Ministry of Defense of Russia reported on Sunday, August 13, about downing Ukrainian drones over the Kursk and Belgorod regions.

Unusual events in Russia: plane crashes, dam collapses, and factory fires

Besides the explosions, there have been other “strange incidents” involving infrastructure and military equipment in Russia.

• On August 12, a dam built to control floods broke in the city of Ussuriysk, Primorsky Krai. This led to flooding in many houses.

• Also on August 12, an Su-30 fighter jet crashed near Kaliningrad, seemingly due to a technical issue. All crew members on board died.

• On August 13, around noon in Ramenskoye, a city near Moscow, plastic pallets with fertilizers caught fire. The fire covered an area of 1,800 square meters. Earlier, there was an explosion in a warehouse of a local company located between a gas station and an engineering and scientific center.

Expert opinions 

Dmytro Pletenchuk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, told Espreso that the Russian Navy has recently been trying to stay closer to the northeastern part of the Black Sea because it no longer feels safe near Crimea.

Pavlo Klimkin, the former head of the Foreign Ministry, said on Espreso that the drone attacks indicate that Russia no longer controls the Black Sea. This is why it's attacking Ukrainian ports.

"Drone attacks changed things in the Black Sea. Russia used to claim control, but these attacks show they don't have it anymore. This hits not just their military, but also their bigger plans," he said.

Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, said he doesn't know the details of the explosions in Crimea on August 12, but he believes that blocking the Crimean Bridge wouldn't have happened casually. He also mentioned that similar incidents might happen more often in occupied Crimea.

Natalia Humeniuk, OC South spokeswoman, said on Espreso that on August 9, Russian troops accidentally dropped three anti-aircraft missiles on their own units while trying to attack the Beryslav district of the Kherson region with tactical aviation and guided air bombs.

Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, stated that Russians will increasingly feel the consequences of their aggressive war against Ukraine.

"It's quite something that the result of the so-called ‘special military operation’ isn't Ukraine's de-Nazification or demilitarization, but explosions across Russian territory. Ukrainians united, and the free world supports us against the enemy. The Russians got what they deserved, like airport shutdowns, explosions, and other incidents. Remember, this is just the start. More consequences of their aggressive war against Ukraine will follow. Regular Russians need to realize that starting a war against a peaceful neighbor invites war onto their own land," he said.