Six Russian balloons had been noticed over Kyiv and most had been shot down after being engaged by air defenses, the Ukrainian capital’s navy administration stated on Wednesday.
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It stated the balloons could have been carrying nook reflectors and reconnaissance tools however didn’t specify once they flew over the capital, though air alerts had been issued in Kyiv on Wednesday.
“In keeping with info that’s now being clarified, these had been balloons that transfer within the air below the propulsion of wind,” the navy administration wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“The aim of launching the balloons was probably to detect and exhaust our air defenses.”
Shortly earlier than the announcement, Ukrainian air power spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat stated Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February final yr, may very well be utilizing balloons in a brand new drive to protect its shares of reconnaissance drones.
“Reconnaissance drones just like the Orlan-10 are actually getting used extra sparingly (by Russia), they usually thought ‘Why don’t we use these balloons?’ So they’re utilizing them,” Ihnat instructed Ukrainian tv.
He confirmed that air raid sirens had blared within the capital on Wednesday due to balloons flying overhead.
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Ihnat echoed the navy administration’s suggestion that Russia may very well be utilizing the balloons to distract Ukrainian air defenses.
“The enemy desires us to make use of our air defenses, which shield our strategic objects, on these balloons, which price nothing.”
Russia didn’t instantly touch upon the studies of balloons over Kyiv.
Moldovan airspace shutdown
Ukraine’s southwestern neighbor Moldova, which has reported Russian missile intrusions into its airspace a number of instances in latest months, additionally reported an unidentified Russian object over its territory.
The nation shut its airspace for over an hour on Tuesday after a flying object “resembling a meteorological balloon” was sighted by authorities.
On Wednesday, the speaker of Moldova’s parliament, Igor Grosu, instructed reporters the flying object that had brought on the nation to shut its airspace belonged to Russia.
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Grosu stated the balloon had crossed into northern Moldova from Ukraine.
“It’s both a (unmanned aerial car), or a tool which is taking some type of measurements at a sure top,” he added.
Romania, a NATO member state that borders each Ukraine and Moldova, stated on Tuesday it had scrambled jets after an aerial goal resembling a climate balloon was noticed in its airspace.
— Reporting by Max Hunder and Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv and Alexander Tanas in Chisinau, Enhancing by Timothy Heritage and Invoice Berkrot
© 2023 Thomson Reuters
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