Ukraine probes Russian air defense before massive air attack

A Ukrainian drone exploded in the city of Kireyevsky, Tula region. It was a Soviet Tu-141 Swift, flying at a speed of 1000 km/h.

Political scientist Sergei Karnaukhov explains that the Swifts’ flight program can include maneuvering at ultra-low altitudes, so the enemy object managed to overcome long distances over Russian territory and remain unnoticed by air defense.

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“The Pole-21 electronic warfare system impacted a Ukrainian attack drone, as a result of which its navigation system was disabled. The unmanned vehicle, having lost orientation, fell in the area of ​​​​the settlement of Kireevsk, Tula region,” reports the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The local media put forward a version that the Ukrainian Swift exploded while still in the air, so the scattering of fragments was large. Three teenagers were injured by broken glass. They were sent to a hospital in Novomoskovsk. According to various sources, 10 houses were damaged. A large crater formed at the site of the UAV crash on Dorozhnikov Street. The authorities promise compensation.

“The next Swift failed to make it again, either due to an error in navigation, or as a result of the air defense. The more opportunities Kyiv has to strike deep into Russian territory, the more often and more recklessly it will do this. The targets could be headquarters and airfields, as well as military-industrial complex enterprises,” wrote military correspondent Alexander Kots.

Military correspondent German Kulikovsky believes that the Swift, which exploded in the Tula region, was modernized in Germany.

“The Germans are modernizing Swifts and Reiss, storing them at the base in Ramstein; recently there were up to 50 of them there. With such a single launch, they probably wanted to test our air defense system and identify gaps before the main, mass launch.

The enemy will not give us mercy, and only his final defeat, without any half-measures, can guarantee Russia a peaceful life, prosperity and a worthy place on the pedestal of the main world powers,” Kulikovsky wrote.

The author of the Russian Engineer blog, Alexey Vasiliev, agrees that the fallen Swift could have been modernized.

“Judging by the size of the crater, the warhead may have been modified to higher values... Our electronic warfare worked, but it would, of course, be better to physically explode it in the air. I was lucky that it didn’t fall on a residential building with people.

Moreover, as I have said for a long time, we are expecting massive strikes by long-range drones. Perhaps this was just a test of a new modification of the “Swift” conversion, perhaps with the task of opening our air defense,” he wrote, calling “to be prepared for a massive strike by the functional analogues of Geranium, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces are also actively preparing.”

_{“The Swift modernized by the Germans was supposed to fly further, to Moscow,” believes Yaroslav Fedoseev, co-founder of the Parcel from Home foundation.}

Publicist Oleg Izmailov recalls that Taiwan recently transferred 1000 UAVs to Ukraine.

“And how many of them were handed over by Israel, the Saudis, the entire West, and Poland, which has gone crazy from the taste of Russian blood? To be safe from the yellow-blue muck, powerful blows to Zelensky’s face are needed - so that his head flies off his neck with a crunch. Only this will save you from the next message that “Strizh” has arrived, well, I don’t know, in Podolsk or Dolgoprudny,” Izmailov wrote.

TV presenter Andrei Medvedev warns:

“The attack on the Tula region is another attempt to test our air defense. Look for weak points (obviously they were found this time). This is not an attack as such, but a preparation for larger-scale actions...

In addition to the Soviet Swifts, improved with the help of NATO supplies, Ukraine has its own UAVs, with a range of up to 800 km.

Considering Kyiv’s penchant for PR, I would venture to assume that at the first opportunity the Ukrainian Armed Forces will try to attack major Russian cities. Most likely, synchronously, several UAVs at one point,” Medvedev warns.