Drones attacked Russia and Crimea over 190 times this year − BBC
Since the beginning of the year, drones have attacked the territory of Russia and temporarily occupied Crimea more than 190 times. Strikes on the night of 29-30 August in six regions of the Russian Federation became the largest in 2023.
Source: ВВС news, citing BBC Verify, which has been tracking reports of drone strikes in Russian media since early 2023
Quote from ВВС: "Moscow has repeatedly accused Ukraine of being behind drone strikes in recent months.
Ukraine hasn't claimed responsibility for these, although President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously said that attacks on Russian territory are an ‘inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process’."
Details: In 2023, drone attacks were concentrated in Bryansk, Belgorod, and Kursk oblasts of Russia near the western border with Ukraine, as well as in Russian-annexed Crimea.
In addition, there were about a dozen attacks by naval drones on Russian targets in the Black Sea this year, including naval bases and the Crimean (Kerch) Bridge, according to BBC Verify.
Drones have reached Moscow Oblast, which is located approximately 450 km from the border with Ukraine, at least several times. These attacks led to the evacuation of people and temporarily stopped the operation of Moscow airports.
Russia even accused Ukraine of trying to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin during an alleged attack on his residence in the Kremlin in Moscow on 3 May. Ukraine denied this.
Social media reported that Bober (Beaver) long-range attack drones were involved in several recent attacks on Moscow.
Unmanned aerial vehicle expert Steve Wright from the University of the West of England cross-analysed images of these aircraft and confirmed video footage of the 30 May Moscow strikes and concluded that the two models were similar in design and that the Beaver was "most likely" used.
The BBC also reports that the drone's wreckage, which crashed about 100 km from Moscow in February, was similar to the UJ-22, a type of drone manufactured in Ukraine. This drone has a range of 800 km in autonomous flight.
In 2023, the targets for attacks were the oil facilities, airfields and energy infrastructure of Russians.
In particular, journalists found at least nine reports of drone attacks on oil depots. One of them was in Sevastopol (Crimea) on 29 April. Several oil tanks were destroyed as a result of the strike.
On 30 August, Russia reported a series of drone attacks across the country, including a strike on an airfield in Pskov that burned down four military cargo planes.
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