MOSCOW, May 30. /TASS/. Eight Ukrainian drones that attacked Moscow and the Moscow Region early on Tuesday probed air defense vulnerabilities, unmanned aviation expert Denis Fedutinov told TASS.
"The aim of the raid was probably to ferret out the Moscow air defenses and reveal their vulnerabilities. Apparently, several objectives were pursued. Primarily, testing various unmanned systems in practice. Secondly, looking at the efficiency of using several drones at a time," the expert explained.
The Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) most likely flew along different routes, which makes it possible to presume that another goal of the raid was to appraise the possibility of attacks on the Russian capital from several directions, he elaborated.
Aircraft-type UAVs weighing up to several dozen kilograms and featuring the canard aerodynamic design were used in the drone attack on Moscow. The combustion engine used in such UAVs enables them to perform quite lengthy flights, including the capacity to reach Moscow from Ukrainian territory, the expert said.
"This UAV model could have been created both directly in Ukraine - the country has specialists and the workforce capable of coping with this task - and could represent an imported civilian drone bought on the open market and adapted for combat use," he added.
Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow and the Moscow Region on Tuesday morning. According to the Russian Defense Ministry’s data, the attack involved eight drones, with five of them shot down by air defenses and the other three suppressed by electronic warfare systems. Two civilians applied for medical assistance in Moscow but needed no hospitalizations. Some buildings sustained minor damage.