Click to see full-size image. Via Twitter.
On August 30, the Russian airport in the city of Pskov used both for military and civilian purposes was attacked by Ukrainian UAVs. LINK The attack raised a lot of suspicions, since the airfield is located near the Russian border with the Baltic states and far from the Ukrainian territory. On August 31, both Moscow and Kiev officially commented on the incident and the satellite imagery revealed the results of the attack.
Zelensky officially declared the use of “long—range weapons” at a target 700 km away from Ukraine. He did not reveal what exactly was the target but it was clear that he meant the Pskov airfield attacked the day before. Playing upon his words, the President of Ukraine did not dare to take responsibility for the attack but he was too excited to declare another victory.
Zelensky also did not disclose what kind of “long-range weapons” the AFU used for the strikes. Some sources supposed, that the Ukrainian military used the Bober (Beaver) UAVs, the declared flight range of which is 800 km, and after modification can reportedly reach up to 1000 km. These UAVs were previously used for the attacks on Russian facilities in the rear areas.
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The drones were officially presented this year. The device is a monoplane with the maximum speed of no more than 150 km/h. To defeat the target, a cumulative charge K3-6 of the Soviet times is used, equivalent in power to 1.8 kg TNT. The average price of one UAV is about 100-110 thousand dollars. In total, according to Ukrainian sources, there are about 150 devices in production.
Some other UAVs used by the Ukrainian military have flight range of about 1000 km. The official reports are yet to reveal what weapons were used during the attack in Pskov.
On the night of August 30, the Ukrainian military likely gained some advantage with the mass use of the UAVs. The number of UAVs were deployed and how many of them were destroyed by Russian forces was not revealed.
However, such an attack would not be possible without NATO intelligence, which is constantly providing the Ukrainian military with the data on Russian radars and air defence systems.
The same conclusion was made by the official spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She noted that Ukrainian drones would not have been able to fly such a distance and carry out an attack without the support of Western satellites. Moscow emphasized that the attacks of Ukrainian drones on the territory of the Russian Federation will not remain unanswered.
However, the Russian official did not comment on the suspicions that the attack could be carried out from the territory of NATO member states. Thus, Moscow does not consider it as a direct involvement of the Alliance in the war.
Soon after the attack on the Pskov airport, the speaker of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, proudly claimed that “at least 4 Il-76 transport aircraft” were destroyed by Ukrainian drones. However, the victory turned out to be another exaggeration.
The satellite imagery first shared by the Ukrainian military confirmed damage to at least two Il-76 aircraft. Most likely, the Ukrainian UAVs targeted the fuel tanks that are located near the wings in an attempt to inflame the aircraft but it did not happen. However, the aircraft require major repairs.
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Click to see full-size image
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Another satellite imagery reportedly confirmed that two more aircraft burned down.
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Footage showing the burning Il-76 was shared immediately after attack.
Thus, apparently, the total losses are 2 destroyed and 2 more damaged IL-76s.
Even if carried out from the Ukrainian territory, the attack on Russian airlifters is another sign of the approaching escalation between Russia and Moscow. Il-76 pose no threat to the Ukrainian military and their damage is unlikely to have any significant influence on the ongoing battles on the Ukrainian frontlines. On the other hand, they are designed to support Russian military operations in more distant regions of the world. The Ukrainian military could choose another more attractive target but the destruction of the large airlifters follows the interests of the Kiev’s patrons. Thus, the airfield in Pskov was chosen as a target by NATO.
Meanwhile, Pskov Airport resumed work on August 31 and the Russian response strikes are yet to come to Ukraine.
it seems to me that zelensky only has tried to disguise the real starting point of the drones. it seems very unlikely that the drones could fly 600 km in russian airspace without being detected. on the other hand it is a shame that russia is not able to tell where the drones came from and proof it. no radars? no awacs? no video observation from satelites or drones? and with such an unability russia is fighting a war?
such rus incompetence, along with its fear of annoying the usa or alienating the eu (rus energy exports assist non-friendly european states, including ukr) is counter productive. this cowardly behaviour encourages us-nato-eu to keep upping the stakes, nukes now being openly discussed, knowing rus will just keep backing off until moscow meekly falls. new leader needed, urgently!
new leader like who?
russia knows the drones were launched from nato country latvia. they just don’t want to acknowledge it to nato which would mean an escalation by declaring war on nato, exactly what nato wants. they want to get involved directly and turn this into a hot war nato vs russia.
that’s surely up to the russian people, and those of donbass, crimea, zaporozhye etc whose lives (if they are still alive) are still being torn apart by kiev nazis despite p’s many promises in feb 2022 when launching the smo. there are twice as many civilian deaths per month now in donbass than before the smo.
sir, join the russian volunteer corps and show them how to fight. otherwise, shut the f up.
the russians already know how to fight. the problem lies with the globalist elites (on both sides) who are directing the idiotic strategy of this pointless bloody conflict. it is achieving nothing but the slaughter of slavic conscripts and citizens, the ruination of fertile land and the upheaval of whole communities; while providing massive profits for the m.i.c (and massive backhanders for corrupt politicians).
if the drones wer3 launched from nato territory, if they flew at a low altitude, they could have entered russia in an unpopulated area then course corrected to hit the air field. however if it is revealed in the comming days the russians have proof of this, estonia will most likely receive a few deniable incidents as a reminder. potentially more if russia is vindictive. a reminder that russia, like the west has a large arsenal of plausibly deniable options at its disposal.
small drones, flying at low altitude at low speed can easily go without being detected by radars.
‘the approaching escalation between russia and moscow’
i suspect that there’s a freudian slip, folks. increasingly the world’s capital cities are behaving as if unaccountable to the wider electorate. soros must be smiling…
southfront editor is slacking it seems. is common though for such mistakes, especially in online media sources. even professors in higher level academic institutions make such mistakes.
that wasn’t the point though, was it?mistakes are ten a penny, who cares, it was simply the nature of the mistake.
it not freudian, it’s the truth. escalation between russia (aka the russian people) and moscow ( aka the jewish-criminals posing as “russian government”) is inevitible. escalation is coming, as soon as more christian russians realize that they are tricking by jews, to invade a foreign country in a conflict started on satanic date 666 and go and die there, to make jewish traitors on both sides richer and bring unspeakable large profits to them.
i would say , most texts are correct and erare humanum est. forget it.
i’m not criticising the error (to err is indeed human) simply commenting on the nature of the error, and what it might inadvertently reveal about the writer’s thought process. look up ‘freudian slip’.
if there are any freighters left on ukrainian territory they should be pulverized. that unfinished 225 is in that shed symbolically should be struck down. every red line crossed should also be crossed by russia. increased power aviation thermobaric bomb over a port, air base or troop concentration can put them in place. i miss the boldness like when they shot down that drone in the black sea.
well, if the russian offensive kicks off, there is a huge chance they will route the ukrainians in the north, and continue hitting them as they flee westward. a reminder is if the north collapses, the southern supply lines can be easily threatened by approaching the dnieper river.. even ukraines top military are starting to quote the german loss of kursk as to what is in store should their offensive lose the way it has been these last 3 months.
that’s a big ‘if’! the afu were defeated last year; a de-facto nato holding force is now goading the bear, while learning its tactics/weaknesses. rus responded by abandoning its smo to protect crimea; with zaporozhye and donbass again left vulnerable. why? the ukr c-o would never have happened if rus had quickly pushed on to take kiev and odessa. now the emboldened nato baltic states yap hysterically for nukes and cheap drones threaten moscow. was this the plan, or a screw up?
“if rus had quickly pushed on to take kiev and odessa.” if if… we don’t know all factors which push the rus leadership to the current strategy. maybe it is a mistake , maybe plan , maybe the consequence of some restrictions and fears which paralyze the brains , but maybe logical reasonable moves , that follow the global geopolitical situation. both war parties play on the edge of the nuclear war. one false move and everything is over.
a first nuke will happen precisely because rus is backing off, thus emboldening nato. usa does what it wants anywhere, including syria, without fear. rus quakes at the thought of upsetting usa even when its own people are being killed. kremlin treats usa with respect and its own citizens like dirt. ukr is existential for rus, risks must be taken. far from helping, the civilian death rate in donbass has actually doubled since the smo, go figure!
strange way of reasoning. if the us does what it wants in syria, syria would be a us controled and partitioned caliphate, which is not the case. iran wouldn’t exist but it stubbornly exist and its power grows. when start pistol is fired, when the time comes, there would be no any us soldiers in syrian, nor yordan, nor iraq, nor kuwait. wait and see.
the usa is limited by its allies, agendas and intelligence – not by fear of reprisal. it does precisely what it feels it should to gain the intended outcome, with no regard to others or consequences. it has 900 plus bases dedicated to preserving this hegemony. thankfully iran is beginning to see through the big bluff, just a pity russia can’t.
i agree but thats a big if.
ruaf has 15 a-50u awac, they should be patrolling airspace every day just like nato e-3’s are 24/7 monitoring ukranian/crimea airspace. russian af also has dozens of il-22m and il-20m coot elint/sigint aircraft for signals intelligence which can pick up gps/vhf comms from any uav. lesson learned: nebo-m, pantsir-sm/s-400 need to be deployed to all strategic bomber airbases and important airfields. when will higher ups understand this? electronic warfare alone isn’t enough.
ukrops and msm retards still sperging out over 2 s-300pm launchers destroyed on cape tarankhut lmao. larping as s-400 (no confirmed evidence, drone footage didn’t show it). plus only 4 battalions s-400 deployed to crimea (simferapol, feodosia, kerch, yevpatoria) not cape tarankhut. and of course oryx autistic turks list it as 2 s-400 launchers lmao, without any visual confirming evidence
russia should improve its drone capabilities and return the favor to the azov nazis on their airfields. cripple theor airfoces. dont give them the ability to recieve f16 fighters from western countries flatten those as soon as they enter ukraine
my reply was blocked (again).
what i can’t understand is why any airfield and railway station in ukraine is still standing?
i am just wondering what the us response would be if drones were hitting washington, i think we know, i also think some drone attacks are from nato countries, russian intel should be able to establish that.
the russian response is yet to come? why wait to be attacked before responding? get your retaliation in first?