Ukraine Launches Largest Drone Attack on Moscow Since Start of Putin's Invasion

Ukraine has significantly escalated its drone strikes against Russian targets, launching its largest attack on Moscow in the past year. The move is part of the country's strategy to shift the focus of Russian authorities from its own territory to the territory of the aggressor country. The attack comes as Ukraine's forces continue to make gains in the Kursk region, where they have carried out a more than two-week long incursion.

Key Takeaways:

• Ukraine has launched the largest drone attack on Moscow since Vladimir Putin's invasion began, with over 45 drones destroyed by Russian air defences.
• The attack was an attempt to land a "serious psychological blow to Russians," according to a Russian dissident, and to make Moscow residents feel that they are not safe anywhere.
• The Ukrainian special forces published footage of a series of strikes on Russian bridges and makeshift pontoon bridges over the Seym River in Kursk, where they used US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (Himars) to strike the bridges.
• British Challenger 2 tanks were allegedly used in the attack, according to anonymous sources, and Ukraine claimed to have destroyed a S-300 anti-aircraft missile system in the Russian Rostov region.
• The attack on Kursk is part of a "psychological" tactic to force Putin to the negotiating table, according to Mykhailo Podolyak, Zelensky's chief adviser.
• The bridges are vital to resupplying Russian forces between the river and the Ukrainian border, as well as providing a retreat route should Kyiv's troops advance westward.

Statistics:

• 45 drones destroyed by Russian air defences over Russian territory, including 11 over the Moscow region.
• 11 drones destroyed in the Moscow region, just 24 miles south of the Kremlin.
• 3 permanent bridges in the Kursk region damaged or destroyed in the past weekend, with Ukraine claiming responsibility for at least one of those strikes.
• High-resolution satellite imagery showed a large chunk of the lower half of one permanent bridge missing after it was hit on Sunday.

Sources:

• "Ukraine is doing everything it can to shift the attention of Russian authorities from its own territory to the territory of the aggressor country," said Yevgenia Chirikova, a Russian dissident and friend of Navalny, as quoted in The Independent.
• Russian media showed unverified footage of drones whirring over the dawn sky of the Moscow region and then being shot down in a ball of flame by air defences.
• The last time Ukraine fired such a number of drones at Moscow was in May last year, when at least eight unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were reportedly destroyed over the capital.
• Kyiv's special forces published footage of a series of strikes on Russian bridges and makeshift pontoon bridges over the Seym River in Kursk, as seen on Telegram.
• Anonymous sources confirmed to The Independent last week that British Challenger 2 tanks were used in the attack.
• Mykhailo Podolyak, Zelensky's chief adviser, stated that the assault on Kursk was also part of a "psychological" tactic to force Putin to the negotiating table.