Six separate regions of Russia have come under attack by aerial drones, setting an airport ablaze and damaging aircraft in the country’s northwestern Pskov region.
“Most of the drones targeted civilian facilities,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“We will continue our special military operation in order to neutralize this threat,” he added, referring to Moscow’s invasion of eastern Ukraine, now in its 19th month.
In the early hours of Aug. 30, Russian authorities reported multiple drone attacks in western and central parts of the country.
While most of the incoming drones were reportedly neutralized by Russian air defenses, some appear to have struck their targets.
In the northwestern Pskov region, several military transport planes were damaged—if not completely destroyed—while an airport was set ablaze.
Although no casualties were reported, activity at the airport was temporarily halted, briefly disrupting air traffic.
The Pskov region is located hundreds of miles from eastern Ukraine. It shares borders with Belarus, a Russian ally, and NATO members Latvia and Estonia.
The airport where the attacks occurred sits approximately 20 miles from the Estonian border.
Asked whether the drones could have originated from Latvia or Estonia, Mr. Peskov said: “It’s up to our military experts to determine their route.”
A "No Drone Zone" sign prohibiting unmanned aerial vehicles flying over the area is seen in central Moscow on June 21, 2023. Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images
Drones Reach Central Russia
On the same day, multiple drones were also reportedly downed in Russia’s central Oryol, Ryazan, and Kaluga regions, where they caused varying degrees of damage.According to Vladislav Shapsha, Kaluga’s regional governor, one drone was downed by air defenses while another struck an empty oil storage facility.
“This caused a fire, which was quickly extinguished,” he was quoted as saying by Russia’s Sputnik news agency.
A third drone was downed in Kaluga at midday without causing damage, Mr. Shapsha said later on the Telegram messaging platform.
Another three drones were downed in the western Bryansk region, where they had tried to disable a television transmission tower, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Sputnik quoted Bryansk’s regional governor as saying that a falling drone had partially damaged the roof of a local administrative building.
At roughly the same time, another aerial drone was reportedly intercepted over the Moscow region’s Ruzsky district.
While no damage or casualties were reported, air traffic in and around the capital was temporarily halted, according to local authorities.
Rescuers work at a site of buildings damaged by a Russian drone and missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 30, 2023. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters
Ukraine ‘Out of Options’
Meanwhile, an unspecified number of seaborne drones reportedly tried to strike targets near Sevastopol in the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow effectively annexed in 2014.A frequent target of Ukrainian drone attacks, the port of Sevastopol is home to Russia’s formidable Black Sea Fleet.
According to Russian military sources, all the attacks were thwarted by Russian naval forces.
In typical fashion, Kyiv refrained from commenting on the wave of drone attacks.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the attacks were proof that Kyiv had “run out of other options.”
For the past three months, Ukrainian forces have waged a counter-offensive aimed at retaking territory captured earlier by Russia.
Moscow says Ukraine has lost vast amounts of men and equipment in the offensive that has yet to decisively penetrate Russian lines of defense.
Earlier this week, Hanna Maliar, Kyiv’s deputy defense minister, claimed Ukrainian forces had retaken the village of Robotyne in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
“Robotyne has been liberated,” Ms. Maliar was quoted as saying on Aug. 28.
Russian officials, however, have since disputed the claims.
“Ukraine’s Western handlers say in the media that the first line [of defense] has been breached, but this isn’t the case,” Yevgeny Balitsky, the Moscow-appointed governor of the Russian-held portion of Zaporizhzhia, said on Aug. 30.
“They [Ukrainian forces] have only approached the first line,” Mr. Balitsky was quoted as saying by Russia’s TASS news agency.
“Nor have they taken Robotyne,” he added.
The Epoch Times could not independently verify battlefield assessments by either of the warring parties.
A residential area hit by a Russian drone and missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 30, 2023. Head of the National Police of Kyiv region Andrii Nebytov via Telegram/Handout via Reuters
Kyiv Strikes Kill 2
The spate of recent drone attacks coincided with renewed Russian barrages on Kyiv, which Ukrainian officials described as the most extensive attack on the city in months.“The enemy launched a massive, combined attack using drones and missiles,” Serhiy Popko, head of the city’s military administration, said on Telegram.
“Kyiv hasn’t experienced such a powerful attack since spring,” he added.
According to Ukrainian military officials, air defenses successfully intercepted 28 incoming Russian missiles and most of the drones used in the attack.
Nevertheless, they went on to assert that at least two people were killed by falling debris.
Reuters contributed to this report.
