1/ The news that Ukrainian drones are now reaching the Urals – as far away from Ukraine as England – has been met with dismay by Russian warbloggers. They say that Russia's air defence system is chronically disunited and coordinated action is difficult. ⬇️
2/ 'Fighterbomber' appears to have realised that the strike shows, in spite of claims to the contrary from many Russian propagandists, that the Ukrainians don't need to use the Baltic States' airspace to attack Russia's Baltic ports:
3/ "Early this morning, the Ukrainians launched yet another strike using aircraft-type drones against a target deep behind enemy lines, deep within Russia.
Or rather, they attempted to launch one. Or attacked, to be precise. Plus or minus 1,800 km. An 8–10-hour flight."
4/ "There can be no question of any corridors through the Baltic states here. Which confirms once again that they didn’t need any corridors at all. They fly those 1,800 km over our territory without any trouble.
5/ "We’ll read the Ministry of Defence reports on the downed drones later; then we’ll be able to estimate roughly how many were launched in that direction."
6/ Artem Zhoga, the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Urals Federal District, has urged local residents: "The Urals are now within range, so be vigilant! Residents of the Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions, please remain calm! I am personally monitoring the situation."
7/ Sergey Koyashnikov says: "Those of my fellow countrymen who are familiar with the situation aren't surprised today; they were simply awakened. But for many, this morning was a revelation.
War has come to the Urals."
8/ "I've said it many times, and I'll say it again. You can live with war or ignore it—it doesn't care. It will come to everyone."
9/ With Tuapse still suffering the catastrophic after-effects of a massive Ukrainian drone strike on its oil facilities, Yuri Kotenok laments Russia's apparent inability to prevent such attacks:
10/ "This is war. The cost of this war is being borne, first and foremost, not by the ‘elites’—who can sit it out and shelter from the consequences in their safe havens—but by the ordinary people: the hard-working, the civil servants, the pensioners who love Russia,…
11/ …hope for its victory, and donate their modest savings to the Special Military Operation. They are the backbone of the state, and attacks on them undermine the state itself.
12/ "But that is not the only problem. The enemy is simply revelling in its impunity. And although our Ministry of Defence’s reports speak almost daily of ‘retaliatory strikes’, it seems they are doing nothing to deter our collective enemy, who is growing stronger with…
13/ …every passing month. Threats of ‘Oreshnik’ [ballistic missiles] are not enough for him, and he is learning to counter ‘Geran' [drones] every day. The enemy, openly mocking us, promises only to escalate its missile and drone strikes, including beyond the Urals.
14/ "If the pattern of attacks on the Russian Federation continues, and we are unable to counter them with decisive arguments, grave consequences lie ahead. For this is war."
15/ Komsomolskaya Pravda war correspondent Alexander Kots points out that Russia's regional air defence systems are chronically disunited, with each region operating a separate system with poor communications between them:
16/ "The internet is already full of videos of drones flying into residential buildings in Yekaterinburg. The Ministry of Defence, in its report, confirms the interception of drones not only over the Sverdlovsk region, but also over the Chelyabinsk region.
17/ "The new reality: "Liutyi" drones are flying as far as the Urals. This is still just a trial run; it's not a massive attack yet. But given the "joint" UAV production in Europe, it's only a matter of time.
18/ "What steps are immediately necessary, from the perspective of a practicing amateur?
First, clarify whether the drones are flying from Kazakhstan. It's pure nonsense, but it's a working theory. To rule it out, so to speak.
19/ "Secondly, I remember three years ago, at a meeting with a very high-ranking official, a military correspondent said that we should create territorial defense forces in all regions. Or, at least, in the European part. And train them to combat drones.
20/ "On the one hand, we get some kind of reserve force capable of loading a machine gun belt. On the other, the country feels a sense of belonging to the Air Defence Forces.
21/ "Back then, they looked at me with the smile of a psychotherapist. Today, we have a law on reservists who can be voluntarily called upon to defend critical facilities. It's time. They've started in the Leningrad Region.
22/ "There's no need to wait for drones to arrive at Uralvagonzavod [the huge tank and vehicle factory in Nizhny Tagil].
23/ "Third, we urgently need to conduct an inventory of "civil air defence" in the border areas, identify the most effective software solutions, and scale them up across the entire country. Or at least its European part.
24/ "I saw large screens in the situation centre in Kursk displaying the entire air situation. Representatives from all relevant agencies were there—from the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Emergency Situations to the ambulance service and social media monitoring.
25/ "And for each target, specially appointed people made decisions immediately. We can suppress them with electronic warfare. We'll intercept this one with fighter drones, and we'll send two mobile groups from the area—their flight time is 12 minutes, so they'll make it.
26/ "But if they don't, the Oryol region has exactly the same screens. With the exact same air situation. They see what's flying over the Kursk region and are preparing to intercept. The problem is, the Oryol region has a different system. And a different software solution.
27/ "And the Bryansk region has a third. And the Tula region has a fourth. And so on. But there's a feeling that the "civil air defence" system should be unified.
28/ "That's just a rough idea. We have effective new interception capabilities; we just need to scale them up. But that all depends on industry, which is now under attack in the Urals as well.
I have no doubt we'll get going. But better sooner than later." /end
Sources:
🔹 t.me/bomber_fighter…
🔹 t.me/Z13_Separ/50358
🔹 t.me/SergeyKolyasni…
🔹 t.me/voenkorKotenok…
🔹 t.me/sashakots/61332
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