Highlights

• Ukrainian dronеs attackеd a fuеl dеpot in Bеlgorod, Russia, which is locatеd just 40 kilomеtеrs from thе Ukrainian bordеr.
• Thе attack causеd a largе firе and injurеd at lеast two pеoplе.
• Thе Russian govеrnmеnt blamеd Ukrainе for thе attack, but Ukrainе dеniеd involvеmеnt.
• This was thе first timе that Ukrainian dronеs had bееn usеd to attack targеts in Russia.
• Thе attack is a sign that thе Ukrainian military is bеcoming morе sophisticatеd in its usе of dronеs.
• It also raisеs thе risk of furthеr еscalation bеtwееn Russia and Ukrainе.
• In recent months, Russia has repeatedly accused Ukraine of attacking its territory with drones.

Last week, two suspected drone attacks  near Moscow's central business district hit a skyscraper under construction on August 23 and the Expo Center exhibition complex a few days ago.

Elsewhere, a suspected drone attack in the Belgorod border region killed three people on August 23, while five were injured in an attack on a train station in the Kursk region a few days ago, Russian officials said. did.

A drone strike allegedly set one of Russia's flagship Tupolev Tu-22 bombers ablaze at an air base south of St. Petersburg, according to footage confirmed

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the specific drone strikes, but President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously said that an attack on Russian territory was an "inevitable, natural and absolutely just process".

 How many drone attacks have there been in Russia? 

According to Russian media reports monitored, there have been more than 160 suspected drone strikes in Russian-controlled areas of Russia and Ukraine  this year.

There have also been more than a dozen naval drone attacks on Russian targets such as naval bases and Crimean bridges in the Black Sea.

Airborne drone strikes were concentrated in the Russian regions of Bryansk and Belgorod, near the western border with Ukraine, and in Russia's annexed Crimea.

Image Source- Irish examiner

The Moscow region, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) from the Ukrainian border, has seen a series of drone attacks in recent months, including a series of attacks on May 30 that destroyed several buildings. was damaged. Flights from Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport were diverted after the July 4 drone attacks, and the airport was temporarily closed after the July 30 and August 1 drone attacks.

Russia has accused Ukraine of trying to kill Ukraine in an alleged attack on President Vladimir Putin's  Kremlin residence on May 3, an allegation that Kiev denies.

In 2023, oil facilities, airfields and energy infrastructure will be targeted.

At least nine reports of drone attacks on oil depots have been confirmed. One of them occurred in the main Crimean city of Sevastopol, which was attacked on 29 April, destroying some of its oil tanks. On May 31, a refinery was set on fire in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia, about 200 kilometers from the Crimean border. The local governor said it was likely caused by a drone.

"The Ukrainian military  will likely prioritize hitting oil refineries, rail infrastructure and the entirety of Russia's logistics to cause maximum chaos," said Leila Guest, an analyst at security consultancy Civilin. talk.

In February, a drone crashed about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Moscow in what the local governor said was an attempted attack on civilian infrastructure.

Images of the wreckage appeared to match a UJ-22, a type of Ukrainian-made drone.

The cruising range during autonomous flight is 800 km (497 miles). In direct flight, the cruising range is significantly reduced.

At least 10 Russian soldiers were injured in another suspected drone strike on May 10 at a military training ground in the Voronezh region, according to local media reports.

And in December last year, a drone attacked an air force base 600 kilometers (372 miles) northeast of the Ukrainian border, killing three people, according to the Russian military.

Social media reports that several recent attacks on Moscow used Beaver drones, long-range fighter jets said to have been recently manufactured in Ukraine.

Drone expert Steve Wright of the University of the West of England compared images from those planes with confirmed footage of the May 30 attack on Moscow. He concluded that the designs of the two examples were consistent and that beavers were "most likely" used.

How far can Ukrainian drones fly? 

Both sides have used drones in the conflict, with Russia using Iranian-made drones to target Ukraine.

Ukraine said it was rapidly ramping up drone production as demand on the front lines increased.

Range experts say drones launched from Ukraine could reach deep into Russian territory, as far as Moscow, about 450 kilometers from the border. "Ukraine has not confirmed that its own forces carried out an attack [on Moscow], but the preemptive strikes we witnessed last year show that Ukraine can carry out this type of attack from long range on Ukrainian territory. I think it proves that,” says David Centciotti, editor of the Aviationist blog.

Drone expert Steve Wright also said a drone launched from Ukraine could hit the Kremlin.

But he added, "I suspect it was launched from a closer range because the drone would not need to penetrate most of Moscow's defenses."

Ukrainian Minister for Digital Transformation Mikhail Fedorov boasted about a Ukrainian drone called R18 that "can fly from Kiev to Moscow and back."

However, he denied calling for a drone strike on Moscow.