Kamikaze drone blasts into Moscow skyscraper
Vladimir Putin is facing a nightmare as a Russian border city has been targeted by drone strikes while the number of elite fighters in his army plunges, reports claim.
Strikes rained down on Russian land once again on Monday, with the Russian Ministry of Defence claiming it downed two Ukrainian drones over Belgorod Oblast.
Belgorod is around 40 kilometres from the Ukrainian border and has already felt some of the impacts of Putin’s bloody conflict.
Back in May, the pro-Ukrainian Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom of Russia Legion launched incursions into the Belgorod region, marching towards Gayvoron before withdrawing back to Ukraine.
While Monday’s strikes in the area could not be independently verified, drones have been attacking the Russian capital on a near-daily basis as Kyiv takes the fight to Moscow.
For all the latest on news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to Daily Express US
READ MORE ‘Weakened’ Russia ‘running out of elite airborne infantry units in Ukraine’
President Volodymyr Zelensky said following a Moscow drone attack on July 30: “Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia – to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process.”
According to Michael Bociurkiw, global affairs analyst and senior fellow at The Atlantic Council, Putin’s war machine is in a “sorry state”.
He told Daily Express US: “That the drones are able to so easily and frequently penetrate what’s meant to be to most heavily protected airspace in Russia says plenty about the weakness of their air defences.
“It’s quite shocking. But then again, the lack of preparedness and general incompetence of Russian forces at the start of the war revealed the sorry state of the Putin war machine.”
Meanwhile, a damning report has claimed Putin now lacks the “elite infantry” units his forces once needed to perform large-scale offensives in Ukraine.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that the Russian army has been rapidly redeploying elite airborne units across fronline areas where Ukrainian counteroffensive troops grouped.
An elite Russian air unit was transferred to Robotyne on August 27, but the town was liberated by Ukrainian troops just one day later.
According to the ISW, Russia’s strategy indicates that its resources and manpower are weakening.
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
Don’t miss…
Ukraine fury after Pope praises ‘great Russia’ and Putin’s heroes[LATEST]
Colonel says use of nukes will be ‘end of Russia’ + urges army to stop mad Putin[REVEAL ]
Putin’s ‘weakness’ laid bare as Ukraine drones put Russian elites at risk[INSIGHT]
It said: “The degradation of these forces will likely weaken Russia’s ability to sustain complex defensive operations and almost certainly disrupt any Russian intent to resume offensive operations at scale.”
It added that these kinds of operations have previously relied on “elite infantry Russia now lacks”.
Daily Express US previously reported that the Kremlin has allegedly targeted millions of untrained recruits to secretly enrol in the military in an act of “complete desperation”.
According to Hamish de Bretton Gordon, a weapons expert and former British Army officer, these young men are far from trained elite fighters, but “bullet catchers” who won’t last more than a week on the battlefield.
He told Daily Express US: “I understand from an excellent source that the Russians have for some time identified four million people across Russia who they think will not be noticed if they disappear.
“These are people of low intellect, they are people who are drug addicts, alcoholics, homeless, because they need to feed this meat grinder. It is shocking.
“It is not the elite going. They are looking for people who just won’t be missed and it is unbelievably cynical.”
Follow our social media accounts here on facebook.com/ExpressUSNews and @expressusnews
Source: Read Full Article