Russia-Ukraine war live: Moscow buildings hit by drones, says mayor; one dead in third attack on Kyiv in 24 hours

At least one of the drones used to attack the outskirts of Moscow appears to have been a Ukrainian manufactured UJ 22 drone produced by the Ukrjet company writes Peter Beaumont.

Alleged footage of the drone, captured in flight during the attack, appears to match released images of the unmanned aerial vehicle which Russia has claimed has been used in other attempted attacks.

Looking like a scaled down light aircraft, the UJ22 has a claimed range of 800km and able to fly for six hours, the UJ 22 was designed primarily as a reconnaissance and attack drone able to carry a payload of about 20 kilos, typically grenades and mines – including six RPG-7VM grenades, or four 82-mm mortar mines.

Able to take off and land on a 100m air strip, the operating range with a ground crew is believed to be about 100km. However recent use of the drones suggests that certain models have been refitted as kamikaze drones with target information pre-programmed into the aircraft.

Images of damage to buildings in Moscow from Tuesday’s drone attack appeared consistent with a small explosive payload that appears to have led to largely superficial damage.

If confirmed as a UJ 22, it would fit with an apparent pattern of recent efforts by Kyiv to hit targets deep inside Russia with drones.

In February 2023 UJ-22 crashed in Russia 100km from Moscow after managing to travel about 460km into Russian territory without being destroyed by Russia’s air defences.

The latest attack – in terms of scale at least – suggests Ukraine is becoming more ambitious in both the scope and its abilities to conduct long-range drone attacks even if the weapons involved have much smaller payloads than the Iranian-manufactured Shaheed drones being used by Russia to attack Ukraine.

The primary purpose of recent Ukrainian drone attacks deep inside Russia appears as much psychological as anything else – an attempt to bring the war in Ukraine to the doorstep of Russians.