The Kremlin is worried in regards to the prospect of a drone assault through the annual Might 9 parade within the coronary heart of Moscow, in keeping with a Ukrainian media outlet.
Claims within the report by Obozrevatel come as Russian authorities introduced that Purple Sq. can be closed for an unprecedented two weeks forward of the commemorations marking the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World Struggle II.
Citing legislation enforcement sources, the publication revealed screenshots of what it mentioned had been paperwork outlining what would occur in case an unmanned aerial car (UAV) “is detected on the territory of the parade sq..”
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A radio operator would report it to the chief of a mechanized column and “request permission to suppress it.” Russia’s foremost safety company, the FSB, would be told, the article mentioned, which acknowledged how the Kremlin was “significantly frightened” by the menace posed by Ukrainian drones.
A Ukrainian official shared a hen’s-eye video of Moscow’s Purple Sq. on Monday and dropped hints that one thing is perhaps afoot for Might 9.
“Ukrainian drone flies calmly over Moscow. It appears that evidently the Kremlin has each probability to be within the affected space very quickly. Fireworks deliberate for Might ninth?” Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s minister of inside affairs, posted on Telegram.
Noting the prolonged closure of Purple Sq. earlier than the parade, Gerashchenko additionally mentioned on Twitter on Tuesday: “However there’s yet one more factor, drones fall from the sky. The bodily closure of the sq. doesn’t defend from that.”
On Tuesday, Russia’s state-run information company Tass mentioned three drones with cameras had been discovered in several areas of the Moscow area.
Volodymyr Yatsenko, a co-founder of Ukrainian on-line financial institution Monobank and the producer of Dovbush T10 reconnaissance drones, has mentioned he would give not less than 20 million hryvnias ($543,000) to a drone producer who lands a drone on Purple Sq. in Moscow on Might 9.
The paperwork cited by Obozrevatel additionally describe how the parade would showcase over 40 tanks, which embrace T-72s, T-80s and T-90s. There would even be eight Iskander missile techniques, eight S-400 air protection techniques and round 100 armored personnel carriers and different navy automobiles. Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for remark.
The navy parade in Moscow is the centerpiece of celebrations on Might 9 which function a speech by President Vladimir Putin. Nonetheless, Purple Sq. can be closed off between April 27 and Might 10, the Federal Guard Service, which gives safety for the Kremlin, mentioned in a press release.
This would be the longest ever restriction to the realm, The Moscow Instances reported. In 2018, Purple Sq. was closed between Might 4 and Might 9, and in 2019, between Might 6 and Might 9. Earlier than final yr’s Victory Day parade, the primary since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Purple Sq. was closed from Might 4.
Might 9 occasions are held throughout Russia to advertise patriotism and spur assist for Russia’s armed forces, however the nation has been on heightened alert following cross-border shellings, which have focused navy services and airfields.
Russian authorities have blamed Kyiv for explosions at two navy airfields positioned deep inside Russia’s territory on the finish of 2022.
The Russian areas of Kursk and Belgorod have canceled their parades, as have Russian-installed authorities within the occupied Crimea peninsula.
In the meantime, on Monday, Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport halted take-offs and landings for a number of hours as a consequence of an unidentified drone.
Safety threats have additionally precipitated the cancelation of the Immortal Regiment march. The occasion sees Russians parade by cities throughout the nation on Might 9 as they carry photos of family who fought in what is understood within the nation because the Nice Patriotic Struggle.