Moscow — The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 plunged the globe into disarray, causing a domino effect on the global economy. It seems that the tables have turned over a year after Moscow’s soldiers rushed into Ukraine.
The conflict is gradually returning to Russia, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Earlier, the Kremlin accused Kiev of conducting a series of drone attacks against Moscow.
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What happened in Moscow?
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, three drones were intercepted on Sunday, causing damage to a commercial and shopping center west of Moscow. The fifth and sixth floors of a 50-story structure were damaged, according to the Russian news agency TASS. The impacts, however, did not result in any deaths.
Videos of the debris and rescue services at the attack scene have surfaced.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force indicated that the recent drone assaults on Moscow were intended to surprise Russians who believed the conflict would be over after Moscow annexed Ukraine in February 2022.
“There’s always something flying in Russia, as well as in Moscow,” said Yuri Inhat, the spokesman, on Ukrainian television. “Now the war is affecting those who were not concerned.”
“No matter how the Russian authorities would like to turn a blind eye on this by saying they have intercepted everything… something does hit.”
The attacks
The military of Ukraine has recently boosted its use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Other than reconnaissance, the vehicles are employed for various reasons.
According to Ukrainian Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, further drone strikes are planned as Kiev accelerates a summer counteroffensive aimed at driving the Russian troops out of Ukrainian territory. Fedorov’s Ministry of Digital Transformation is in charge of implementing Ukraine’s “Army of Drones” purchase strategy.
The drone strikes last week were aimed at Moscow. On Monday, Ukraine claimed responsibility for the assault on two non-residential institutions in Moscow, one of which was close to the Ministry of Defense.
Russia called the event a “terrorist attack,” despite the fact that Moscow has used military force in Ukraine on a daily basis, slaying civilians.
A Russian missile struck the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy last week, wounding 20 people and killing two civilians. Meanwhile, two people were killed in a rocket attack on Zaporizhzhia. Long-range bombardments were launched at both locations.
Ukrainian officials recorded 25 instances of bombing in Sumy in a single day. Meanwhile, a military officer in Zaporizhzhia said that Russian forces launched 77 strikes on 20 communities in the region, causing damage to 31 residential dwellings and other structures.
Aftermath of the strikes
Although there were no fatalities or deaths as a result of the Ukrainian drone strikes on Moscow, they did raise concerns.
A witness to the Sunday incident described how the attacks disturbed her plans to unwind.
“My friends and I rented an apartment to come here and unwind, and at some point, we heard an explosion – it was like a wave, everyone jumped,” the witness told Reuters.
“There was a lot of smoke, and you couldn’t see anything. From above, you could see fire.”
On Sunday, Ukrainian drones assaulted the Russian-occupied Crimea Peninsula. According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, 25 unmanned aerial vehicles were spotted above the region. The vehicles were among those illegally taken by Moscow from Ukraine in 2014. Russia used air defense systems to shoot down 16 of them.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, electronic warfare equipment disrupted the signals of the remaining nine vehicles, causing them to fall into the Black Sea.
Russia claimed last Friday that it shot down a Ukrainian missile passing over the southern Russian city of Taganrog. Considering Ukraine’s lack of response, the instance of the nation launching missiles into Russian territory appeared to be a rare occurrence.
Ukraine’s drone program
In early June, it was discovered that Ukraine was building a remote-controlled aircraft that may have been virtually difficult to hear.
“It’s very stealthy,” said Valeriy Borovyk, the maker of the drone. “We call this one Vidsyich (Ukrainian word for repel).”
The Vidsyich is characterized as a military drone capable of targeting Russian targets.
Borovyk is only one of numerous drone developers in Ukraine. The first wave of developers arrived in 2014, after Russia gained control of Crimea and other Donbas territories.
Unmanned aerial vehicles were initially used to assist artillery in locating Russian targets. Many individuals fear they are being utilized to strike Russian objectives.
Borovyk claims that he and his crew created the Vidsych for battle while also developing surveillance drones.
“It has a range of 40 kilometers and can carry a warhead of two to three kilograms,” he explained. “We mostly concentrate [our attacks] on very expensive [Russian] equipment.”
