Russia grounds flights as drones downed – DW – 08/21/2023

The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence says Russia appears to be expanding its military structures to cope with wartime realities.

The ministry said it expected units currently operating in the Kherson region and the force that usually constitutes Russia’s garrison in occupied Crimea to focus on defensive operations in southern Ukraine.

It said the formation would likely consist of mainly mobilized personnel. The ministry said Russia would likely channel more experienced soldiers to fights on key locations. 

“There is a realistic possibility that this has led to the recent re-deployment of airborne forces from Kherson to the heavily contested Orikhiv sector.”

Russia says it stopped attacks involving two Ukrainian drones in the Moscow region but that more than flight plane flights to and from the capital were disrupted, and at least two people were injured.

Travel from Moscow’s four main airports — Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremtyevo, and Zhukovsky — was restricted. Russian aviation authority Rosoviatsia said 45 passenger flights were affected and two cargo planes.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had jammed a Ukrainian drone in the Ruzsky district to the west of the capital and that it had destroyed another one in the nearby Istrinsky district. 

The injuries were said to have been caused by falling debris.

There has been an increase in drone air strikes deep inside Russia since two drones were destroyed over the Kremlin in early May.

Ukraine does not normally comment on attacks on Russian territory, although it has expressed satisfaction over them. In Moscow, the drones have been able to hit skyscrapers in the business district of Moskva City.

rc/fb (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)