The Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation, Mikhailo Fedorov, confirmed on Monday the drone attacks that reached Moscow and the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, occupied by Russia since 2014, and that the Russian authorities had reported early in the morning.
“Today at dawn drones have attacked the capital of the orcs and Crimea,” Fedorov, whose ministry is in charge of an ambitious program to supply drones to the Ukrainian army, wrote on his Telegram account, using the pejorative term that many Ukrainians use in this war to refer to the Russians.
Fedorov added that Russian electronic systems and anti-aircraft defenses are “less and less capable of protecting” Russian airspace, and closed his terse message by announcing more such attacks in the future: “there will be more of this.”
However, the drones that flew over Moscow were intercepted by Russian forces, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The drones were shot down by electronic jamming and there were no casualties. The drone crashed into two non-residential buildings around 4 o’clock, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on Telegram.
This is the latest in a series of drone strikes in Moscow that Russian officials blamed on Ukraine. On July 4, Russian authorities halted flights at one of Moscow’s three main airports for several hours after intercepting what authorities said were Ukrainian drones. In May, Defense said it shot down eight drones trying to attack Moscow, including two over the Kremlin, prompting President Vladimir Putin to demand that Russia strengthen air defenses around the capital.
The Russian Ministry of Defense assured this Monday that Ukraine tried to attack the annexed peninsula, a vacation destination for many Russian citizens, overnight with 17 drones, but that the attack was thwarted and there were no casualties, although one of them did manage to hit an ammunition depot in Dzhankoi.
According to the Russian balance, eleven of the drones crashed in the Black Sea after being suppressed by anti-drone teams, three fell on Crimean territory and three were destroyed by air defenses.
Last night’s attacks on Crimea and on Moscow come after Russia has attacked the city and ports of Odessa and its surroundings on an almost daily basis for the past week.
Following Saturday night’s Russian missile attack, which destroyed 25 architectural monuments, including the Orthodox cathedral, in this southern port city, President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to avenge what he called an act of Russian terrorism. At the same time, the UN recalled that the destruction of UNESCO’s cultural heritage is considered a war crime.
The Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation leads an initiative that aims to develop and acquire thousands of drones with private donations to increase the potential of the Kyiv army in this war. Long-range drones are a priority of this program.
