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NATO drones were caught attempting to spy on Russian territory just hours before a new wave of attacks by Kiev forces.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on August 22 that two fighter jets were scrambled to prevent the Russian airspace violation by two NATO drones, which were on a reconnaissance mission near Crimea,
“On 22 August 2023, two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), an MQ-9 Reaper and a TB2 Bayraktar, conducting aerial reconnaissance over the waters of the Black Sea close to Crimean Peninsula, were detected by the airspace control means of the Russian Aerospace Forces,” the ministry said.
To prevent a possible violation of the Russian border and counter reconnaissance activities, two Russian fighter jets were scrambled. “As a result of the actions, the UAVs changed their flight direction and left the areas where aerial reconnaissance was being conducted,” the ministry added.
A few hours after the incident, the Russian MoD said that a total of three Ukrainian drones were on a mission to conduct “a terrorist attack” on Moscow.
Two drones were destroyed mid-air, while the third veered off course due to signal-jamming and crashed into a building in the city’s business district, according to a statement released by the ministry on August 23 morning. Both the ministry and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin confirmed that the attack attempt didn’t result in any casualties.
Later on August 23, the ministry reported an attempt by Kiev forces to carry out a “terrorist attack” with a drone against the Belgorod region.
“At about 11:30 a.m. Moscow time today, an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack by an aircraft-type drone was thwarted. Air defense systems detected the UAV and destroyed it over the Belgorod region,” the ministry said in a statement.
No one was injured and no material damage was caused by the drone attack thwarted by Russian air defenses, the ministry said.
In a separate incident, three people were killed when a Ukrainian drone attacked the village of Lavy in the Valuysky District in Belgorod, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on his Telegram channel.
“As a result of a repeated shelling of the premises of a resort facility in the village of Lavy of the Valuysky District, three civilians were killed. Ukraine’s armed forces dropped an explosive device using a drone when the people were outside. Two men died on the spot of the wounds sustained. Medics were fighting to save another injured individual to the end but his wounds were fatal,” the governor said.
The new wave of attacks came amid reports of more Ukrainian losses in several directions within the special military operation zone.
In the Kupyansk direction, the Russian Zapad Group of Forces took over a stronghold and two observation posts of Kiev forces, according to Yaroslav Yakimkin, a spokesman of the group.
“Assault units from Battlegroup West continue to advance in the vicinity of the Olshana population center in the Kupyansk area. The Russian soldiers have taken over a stronghold and two observation posts,” the spokesman told TASS.
According to Yakimkin, the group also repelled four counter-attacks near Petropavlovka, Sinkovka and Olshana. In addition, an attempt to use the tactical reserves of the 115th Separate Mechanized Brigade was thwarted by the group’s artillery.
“During counterbattery work, Krab, M109 Paladin, M777, 2S3 Akatsiya artillery guns were eliminated as well as a mortar crew, an ammunition supply point and an AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar in the vicinity of the villages of Chervony Stav, Sheykovka, Kucherovka, Peschanoye, Krakhmalnoye, Zagoruykovka, Stelmakhovka,” the spokesman added.
In the South Donetsk direction, some 200 Ukrainian troops were reportedly killed or wounded during fighting with Russian forces.
“Our reconnaissance data testify to the Ukrainian army’s huge losses near Staromayorskoye and Urozhainoye. The number of the [Ukrainian army’s] personnel killed and wounded under our artillery and air strikes amounted to two hundred people over the past two days,” Yan Gagin, adviser to the acting Donetsk head, told TASS.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the We Are Together With Russia movement, told the news agency that three attempts by Kiev forces to clear mines near Urozhainoye were thwarted
“Speaking of the situation near the Vremevsky bulge, Ukrainian troops … have been testing our defenses there, with reserves arriving. Right in Urozhainoye, small groups with support of armored vehicles, using engineering equipment and minesweepers, [made] attempts to … sweep southeast of the locality. As soon as those attempts were exposed, artillery and mortar fire was unleashed on the enemy. So far, at least three such attempts have been made, and all of them were thwarted by our defenders,” Rogov said.
According to the official, Priyutnoye and Urozhainoye are of critical importance to Kiev forces in terms of organizing an offensive and advancing further toward the villages of Zavetnoye Zhelaniye and Staromlinovka.
“The main forces from among Ukrainian reserves are currently being accumulated near Priyutnoye. Whenever a Ukrainian unit arrives, it is met with Russian artillery fire and air strikes,” Rogov added.
In the Kherson direction, Russian forces destroyed a D-30 towed howitzer and a 120 mm mortar of Kiev forces, according to a spokesman for the regional emergency services.
“In the Kherson direction, units of the Dnepr battlegroup inflicted damage on the enemy by firepower, destroying a D-30 howitzer with ammunition (casualties: three Ukrainian militants were killed and another four received wounds of varying severity) and a 120mm mortar team with ammunition (casualties: three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and four others sustained wounds of varying severity),” the spokesman said.
Russian forces also targeted a Ukrainian firing position and two 120 mm mortars along with their crews and ammunition in the island zone and a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher with its three-member crew and ammunition in the Kakhovka area, the spokesman said.
In the Zaporozhye, Russian forces targeted Ukrainian troops and equipment with FPV suicide drones. Footage of the strikes were shared by Russian news sources.
The recent increase in attacks on Russian territory appears to be a desperate attempt to deflect public attention from the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive which began more than eleve weeks ago. The Kiev regime received more than 200 billions in military aid from NATO states and other backers. However, its forces are still bogged down kilometers away from the Russian military’s first line of defense.
