Ukrainian drone activity near Moscow signals key development — military expert

Defense Express editor-in-chief Oleh Katkov said this on Espreso TV.

“The potential goal of Ukrainian drones is to reach Moscow. When unidentified drones — whose exact type we do not know — approach the Russian capital, a critical process begins: in the city with the highest concentration of economic activity, life comes to a halt. Mobile internet is shut down, and the so-called ‘carpet plan’ is enacted, meaning a complete shutdown of Moscow’s central aviation hub and all its airports. As a result, the Russian economy suffers direct losses,” Katkov noted.

According to the military expert, everything in Moscow grinds to a halt simply because Ukrainian drones are flying. And even if these UAVs are not armed, the key objective is just to reach the target. From there, Russia is forced to expend resources to shoot them down and determine whether they were armed or not.

“When combat drones are used, like last night, they strike specific targets — for example, yet another Russian enterprise that is a key supplier of electronic components,” Katkov added.

The Defense Express editor-in-chief also said that it is still unclear which types of drones were used in the latest attacks on Moscow.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out that some of them were decoys. But it’s precisely because of them that the enemy is forced to expend significant resources to repel the attacks and to keep air defense systems in the capital — rather than at the front line, where they could obstruct our aviation,” he said.

“Therefore, the strategy of sustained pressure on the enemy is the right one. If drones begin to regularly reach Russian territory and cause damage, even Muscovites will begin to ask: ‘Where is this great, powerful, and invincible state?’ In this way, Moscow becomes a convenient target for our efforts — and from our side, those efforts can be minimal. It’s enough to simply launch decoys,” Katkov emphasized.

• Drones attacked several regions of Russia. At the Energiya plant in the city of Yelets, Lipetsk region, a fire reportedly broke out as a result of the UAV attack, and there are injuries.