«Engaged in reconnaissance in the interests of the enemy»
Another attack on Pskov happened on the night of September 1st. Near the Pskov airport, a quadrocopter was detected and destroyed by small arms.
According to the military expert, director of the Museum of Air Defense Forces Yuri Knutov, most likely, a spy drone was launched on Pskov — and, most likely, from the territory of Russia.
Shortly after the recent massive drone attack, gunfire was heard again in Pskov. A helicopter-type drone tried to approach the Kresty airfield, but was shot down in its vicinity.
— Most likely, the drone was engaged in reconnaissance in the interests of the enemy — it estimated the result of the attack of August 30th. Such a drone can be dangerous. But, in view of its characteristics, it could hardly fly to Pskov from the territory of Ukraine. Most likely, it was launched from our territory — told "MK" Yuri Knutov.
Earlier, on the night of August 30, after an attack by a swarm of drones, a fire broke out in a fuel tank. Emergency services also reported that four Il-76s were damaged.
The question is still open — where the drones were launched from. Some experts are still sure that the attack on the Pskov airport was delivered from the territories of third countries and neutral waters. And the operation itself was prepared by the GUR with MI-6 for several months. Pskov was not chosen by chance — because of the remoteness from the front, we did not expect such a blow from the enemy. Our opponents were well aware of this, and having received accurate intelligence on the day the planes were loaded, they struck.
It is still unclear what type of drone attacked Pskov. Some claim that these were new drones made of cardboard soaked in paraffin. Radars cannot detect such drones, since the cardboard is radio-transparent. There is also an opinion that drones made in China attacked Pskov.
«The most important thing — I would ask the question: how did the Chinese plywood UAVs end up in Pskov, flying around the perimeter of Belarus? And wouldn't it be easier for them to fly from Estonia? There, from the border to the airfield, 50 kilometers,» says military commissar Roman Saponkov.
Other military experts previously told MK that, theoretically, enemy drones could cover a distance of more than 600 kilometers. So, according to Alexei Leonkov, a long-range flight of an aircraft-type drone is provided by a communication system via satellite. They use the Starlink system via 5G. Thus, you can control the drone at a distance of up to 1400 kilometers.