Powerful Drone Attack On Russia’s Territory: Could UAVs Fly Through Belarus?

The expert revealed the details of the most massive strike since the beginning of the war.

On the night of August 30, drones carried out one of the largest attacks on Russian territory since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The Pskov, Bryansk, Oryol, Kaluga, Ryazan and Moscow regions were subjected to a UAV raid. Can these strikes be called a turning point?

Charter97.org asked this question to Oleksandr Kovalenko, a well-known military-political observer of the Ukrainian “Information Resistance”:

— Everything goes according to plan. First, the wide range of directions and trajectories that were used draws attention to itself. That is, there was no emphasis on any one specific location, for example, Pskov.

Secondly, it is interesting that the highest performance indicator was in the most remote location.

— Where do you think these drones could have been launched from? There are different versions.

— For some reason, the Russians accuse Ukraine that these are, they say, our drones, but again, no official statements have been received from Kyiv. And the Russians still have not provided any solid evidence that the launch was made in Ukraine. It could just as well be Russian rebels.

They already blame Ukraine, and it’s 700 km in a straight line from the border with Ukraine to Pskov. I emphasize, not along a tortuous trajectory, but along a straight line! It turns out that from Ukraine to Pskov, several drones flew 700 km at once to an important airfield, where Il-76 military transport aircraft are located, which provide “unparalleled” Pskov paratroopers in the world. So these drones fly freely and destroy, according to a number of statements, from 4 to 6 aircraft.

This is, firstly: hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Secondly, the Russian Federation has less than a hundred such efficient aircraft. They simply will not be able to compensate for such losses in the coming years. You don't make planes like cannon fodder. Therefore, this is a rather serious blow, both reputational and military in nature.

I emphasize that the most distant goal was hit with the best results. The airfield is located next to the Baltic countries. A number of Russian propagandists have already expressed the version that the UAVs “flew from Estonia”. They can use this narrative to justify the mediocrity of their air defense. Like, they didn’t expect a blow. Or in order to justify their spineless response, they say, these are provocations.

All this shows that the border between Russia and Belarus (after all, it is essentially along the border with Belarus) and the border with the Baltic countries is practically not protected by air defense systems that could intercept such small objects.

— Could drones fly through the territory of Belarus?

— I don’t think so. Is that only at ultra-low altitudes — within 30 m above the ground. Approximately such a height could ensure that they were not noticed by the air defense systems of Belarus.

I don’t know what trajectory they would fly along, but it’s about 40 km. It turns out that no one noticed them and did not record them? Residents of Belarusian Surazh or Horki would have heard them even at night. After all, the sound of such a “moped” (a Shahed drone — edit.), which comes not from a neighboring lane, but from somewhere above, would definitely alert the locals.

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