Series of explosions in Russia and temporarily occupied territories: where explosions were heard during the week

Read more about cotton in Russia and the temporarily occupied territories in Espresso's weekly review.

"Moscow never sleeps" - three strikes in one week

It's loud in the centre of Moscow again

This week has brought another series of explosions to the Russian capital due to the work of unknown drones. According to Russian officials, these are all Ukrainian drones. Kyiv, on the other hand, traditionally neither confirms nor denies its involvement.

On the night of Monday 24 July, explosions were heard in different parts of Moscow. Several drones attacked the city. The explosions occurred near the building of the Ministry of Defence. No one was injured, but several buildings were damaged. Read more here.

Another attack took place on the night of 27-28 July, when the Russian capital was attacked by a UAV. At the time, no damage was reported, as it was allegedly shot down by the Russian Ministry of Defence. Read more here.

The third attack took place on the night of 29-30 July. It caused damage to the Moscow City business centre, and a security guard was injured. The Russian authorities reported the downing of three drones, one on the outskirts of the city, while the other two were "suppressed by electronic warfare" and crashed into the office complex.  As a result of the attack, Moscow International Airport was briefly closed. Despite the Russian authorities' claims that all air targets were "shot down", the attack on Moscow on the morning of 30 July demonstrates that it will no longer be calm in Russia, even in the hinterland, said Yuriy Ignat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force. Read more about the attack here.

Explosions in Crimea is a sign of preparation for liberation of the peninsula

Explosions at a military training ground in the Kirovsky district of Crimea, 19 July 2023.

The situation in the temporarily occupied Crimea was also restless during the week. A series of explosions coincided with drone attacks on Moscow. Valeriy Ryabykh, a military expert at Defense Express, believes that constant attacks on Crimea are a sign of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' preparations for military operations to de-occupy the peninsula

On Monday morning, 24 July, locals in the temporarily occupied Crimea heard powerful explosions. Ukrainian drones hit a BC warehouse in the Dzhankoy district. According to the head of the occupation authorities of the peninsula, Sergei Aksyonov, 11 Ukrainian drones were allegedly shot down by air defence forces. However, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence, 17 drones were allegedly shot down. According to telegram channels, three missiles, not UAVs, hit the BC warehouse near the village of Vilnyi, which started a fire. More details are available here.

On Friday, 28 July, an occupier's ammunition depot exploded in occupied Sevastopol in Kozachy Bay. The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reports a sabotage. It is noted that witnesses heard two explosions and the sounds of further detonation of ammunition. Also, according to the DIU, several ambulances and police cars arrived at the scene. More details are available here.

On the morning of Saturday, 29 July, the Ukrainian Defence Forces successfully attacked the Chongar Bridge. According to Russian occupiers, the attack was allegedly carried out by Storm Shadow missiles and all 12 missiles were destroyed, while their fragments only partially damaged the "bypass booth and contact line". More information about this incident is available here.  

On the night of 30 July, an even larger-scale drone attack on Crimea took place. The Russian Ministry of Defence said that Ukrainian forces allegedly attacked targets in the temporarily occupied Crimea using 25 UAVs. Allegedly, 16 Ukrainian UAVs were destroyed by air defence fire, and another 9 by electronic warfare. More details are available here.

Oil depot near Donetsk on fire

There were also incidents in other temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. In particular, on the night of 28 July, explosions occurred in occupied Shakhtarsk, Donetsk region, followed by a fire at an oil depot located several dozen kilometres from Donetsk. No one was allegedly injured in the explosion and fire.

Explosions are happening - the shells are "melting" somewhere in the rear. Russians are experiencing a significant "shell hunger" on the left bank. There is no place for the enemy to pull up resources. Fire control over the logistics routes is also a significant obstacle to quickly replenish lost ammunition," said 1st Rank Captain, head of the Joint Coordination Press Centre of the Southern Ukrainian Defence Forces, Natalia Humeniuk, commenting on this week's series of explosions.