Summary
- Ukraine launched drone attacks on Moscow airports, potentially signaling escalation.
- Reports indicate many drones intercepted, but some make it through defenses.
- Ukraine’s effective use of drones in the war poses significant challenges to Russia’s military.
In the latest indication that Russia’s 3-day ‘Special Military Operation’ (now in its third year) may not be going fully as planned, Moscow’s Zhukovsky International Airport came under a Ukrainian drone attack last night and in the early hours of the morning. Zhukovsky is a minor Moscow international airport with limited international flights, mostly to former Soviet Union countries, as well as to Istanbul. It is one of
four international Moscow airports
– the two main Moscow airports are
Moscow Domodedovo Airport
and
Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport
.
Zhukovsky & Domodedovo Airports targeted in Ukrainian drone strikes
Last night, Ukraine launched a massive drone attack on the Moscow region and is reported to have targeted civilian airports for the first time. Amid the fog of war, there are also reports that Moscow’s major Domodedovo Airport may also have been targeted.
Photo: Telsek | Shutterstock
Ukraine may want to bring the war to Moscow, where
flights have been mostly operating normally
(although with fewer destinations and periodic closures) since the start of the Full-Scale Russian Invasion of Ukraine. All airports (and airspace) in Ukraine have been closed for the entire duration.
Videos emerged online showing Ukrainian long-range drones flying over the Moscow region. While many were shot down or otherwise neutralized, some appear to have gotten through. The wreckage of one drone was seen burning at Moscow Zhukovsky’s airport next to a parked passenger plane.
Early Russian reports claim 144 drones were intercepted across Russia. Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of the Kyiv School of Economics, stated he had heard of estimates that Ukraine had used as many as 300 drones in recent strikes.
It should be noted that Moscow is protected by some of the world’s most formidable belts of air defense and electronic warfare systems. Open-source analysts noted that Zhukovsky International is home to the Russian Flight Research Institute.
The lightning pace of drone development
Ukraine has been developing and employing various drones to great effect
in the war. They have used them (along with missiles) to defeat Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, driving it out of Crimea with around a third of the ships damaged or destroyed.
Numerous aircraft have been destroyed on the ground by Ukrainian drones (
including a fifth-generation Su-57 Felon
), as well as innumerable tanks, IFVs, and other targets along the frontline. Ukraine may have also downed at least one Russian helicopter with FPV drones.