A scouting special force on the rooftops.
Hunting for hidden remote pilots in crowds.
Russian cities prepare for possible attacks.
According to newly discovered documents in the giant leak that shook the Pentagon earlier this spring, Ukrainian President Zelenskyi is reported to have advocated “robot attacks inside Russia” last winter.
He is also said to have suggested that they “occupy Russian border towns” to give Kiev a trump card in possible negotiations with Moscow.
Zelensky fights back
The Washington Post writes and states that sources within the Pentagon do not deny the contents of the leaked document.
During a press conference in Berlin on Sunday, President Zelenskyi denied the classified US information.
– We are not attacking Russian territory. We are liberating our own territory, Zelenskyy said according to AP.
– We are preparing a counter-offensive against the illegally occupied areas based on our internationally recognized borders.
Just as firmly, the Ukrainian leadership has not dismissed involvement in the drone attacks that have been carried out several times on Russian soil.
Fears attack from the air
You have then rather indicated that you were behind.
For example, earlier in May a drone crashed into an oil refinery in the Russian city of Rostov. Last winter, two drones were used in an attack on a Russian air base in Saratov.
However, it denied sending the two drones that were shot down over the Kremlin on May 2. Russia then accused Ukraine of having “tried to kill Putin”.
Ukrainian officials dismissed the allegations as a likely Russian false-flag operation.
Regardless of the sender of the drones, Russia has stepped up protection in Russian cities against threats in the air.
Police in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, say they have appointed a special force to combat drones.
Peeking from the rooftops
According to the city authorities, the members of the force consist mainly of people who previously served in the occupied parts of Ukraine, writes The Moscow Times.
The special forces made their debut during Victory Day on May 9 when they supervised the military parade in the city.
“Five pairs of snipers and two groups with electromagnetic anti-drone weapons were posted on rooftops in the central parts of the city and ensured a calm sky,” the police stated after Victory Day according to The Moscow Times.
“Further observations were made by people on the ground and mobile forces patrolled the streets to spot drone pilots.”
Electromagnetic anti-drone weapons knock out the drone’s electronics and disrupt the signal between the craft and the operator.
Control in the subway
They are said to be “effective in urban areas where other weapons cannot be used for security reasons”.
The fear of attacks from the air has also prompted the police in Moscow to act.
There, they have started checking people in various crowds in search of remote pilots who can control smaller drones towards their targets from the ground.
According to The Moscow Times do you have controls at metro entrances, train stations and airports. They also inspect vehicles where they suspect that drones can be transported.
The newspaper states that the Ministry of the Interior has received an order from the highest authority that all unregistered drones owned by civilians should be “knocked out”.