MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/. One of the largest recent Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian regions, which occurred overnight, demonstrates Ukraine's desire to secure PR support amid the negotiations, unmanned aviation expert Denis Fedutinov told TASS.

"First of all, this is a political aspect. It's impossible not to notice that peaks in the intensity of Ukrainian drone attacks often coincide with periods of intensified negotiations, which may indicate the Ukrainian side’s desire to secure PR support. The support is rather dubious in its content, but in the absence of real successes on the front, the enemy is looking for anything that could bolster their negotiating position," Fedutinov said.

He said that UAVs are produced in Ukraine, in part, with funding from the West, but their production technologies are rooted in the Soviet past. "In terms of production, Ukraine is implementing a strategy of maximum decentralization of relevant capacities to reduce the risk of a significant decline in production rates as a result of Russian strikes," Fedutinov added.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russian air defense forces shot down 287 Ukrainian UAVs in the early hours of December 11. The overnight drone attack on Moscow has been one of the largest in recent months, according to data published by Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin. Since the evening of Wednesday, December 10, the city’s air defense forces, according to the mayor, have shot down 32 drones flying towards the Russian capital, 31 of which were downed on Thursday. Sobyanin emphasized via the Max messenger that emergency response services were working at the site of the fallen debris. The previous such attack was staged on October 27, when air defense forces downed 32 drones flying towards Moscow in 24 hours, and five more UAVs were shot down on the previous evening. There was another such attack in September when 46 UAVs were shot down in the skies over the Moscow region since the evening of September 22, including 31 drones since the morning of September 23.

Due to security concerns, all Moscow airports were closed to aircraft landings and departures overnight. According to airport services and flight information display systems, nearly 40 flights were unable to land in Moscow and diverted to alternate airfields, not including those canceled or delayed at their departure points.