Ukrainian drone attacks in Russia are intensifying. On Tuesday August 1, the Russian authorities announced that they had neutralized a new air offensive in Moscow and the Black Sea. Ukraine, which has been under attack from its neighbor for almost a year and a half, has increased drone attacks in Russian territory in recent weeks, in parallel with a slow and difficult counter-offensive in the East and South. Ukrainians, occupied by Vladimir Putin’s army.
For General Dominique Trinquand, military expert and former head of the French mission to the UN, the objective is to strike Russian public opinion. “War is coming to Russia, to its strategic centers and military bases,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday after the drone attack that targeted a business district in Moscow.
L’Express: What strategy are Ukrainian drone attacks in Russia responding to?
Dominique Trinquand: There are two types of drone attacks: those on Crimea and those on Moscow. Those on the Crimea, it is within the framework of the operations, therefore to strike in depth. Those on Moscow are more strategic strikes aimed at hitting the psychology of Russian city dwellers.
For two reasons: the first is that these drones manage to cross Ukraine to Moscow without difficulty, without being stopped. Then they hit Moscow but with small charges, 20 to 25 kg, which causes damage but no casualties. The goal is to show the Muscovites that the war is here and that they are in it. For now, Muscovites are in a bubble and don’t see what war is at all.
Is it possible that these Ukrainian drones take off directly from Russian soil?
Many say they take off from Russian soil. I see that the Ukrainians have drones called Beavers, which travel 500 km with a load of 20 to 25 kg. Since they regularly invent new drones, I think they are able to launch them from Ukraine.
That does not mean that all leave from Ukraine. The drones that had been sent to the Kremlin, for example, were probably small drones that came from Russia. They had been operated either by partisans or by infiltrated Ukrainian special forces.
Are the drone attacks in Moscow of purely military interest?
Some hit office buildings in which there were probably Russian services. But it is above all to show that the war is in Russia. This is primarily the goal, because the damage is still light. It should also be noted that each time, the Russians minimize these attacks, saying that the drones were intercepted, that no one was killed and that there was little damage.
What does Volodymyr Zelensky expect from this signal sent to Russian public opinion?
I think President Zelensky noted at the time of the Prigozhin mutiny that there was a flaw in the Russian political system. He seeks to widen this loophole by involving Russian citizens in particular. The aim is at least to arouse concern among Russian citizens, so that they do not feel free from anxiety.