Russian propagandists and pro-war bloggers have harshly criticized the Russian army for their inability to defend their territory and military facilities. This reaction followed the destruction by Ukrainian drones of four Il-76 heavy military transport planes at an airfield in Pskov on the night of August 30.

At the same time, they criticized the Russian Defense Ministry's recent efforts at censorship. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says the aggressor country is facing a new challenge when it will have to tell Russians the truth about attacks and the capabilities of its air defenses.

The day before, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (GIU) Andriy Yusov said the drone strike had destroyed four Russian Il-76s and possibly damaged two more planes at the Pskov airfield, but did not comment on the nature of the strike or hold the agency responsible for it.

Geolocated footage and Russian sources, however, confirmed the destruction of at least two Il-76s. As Russian bloggers themselves claim that the airfield in Pskov was attacked by more than 21 Ukrainian UAVs, the damage must be greater.

Russian sources, including the Russian Defense Ministry, said that Russian air defense and EW systems also shot down Ukrainian drones over the Orel, Tula, Voronezh, Ryazan, Kaluga, Bryansk and Moscow regions. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed that Russian air defense systems "repelled a massive strike by Ukrainian drones" over the Central Federal District (a large administrative territory that includes Moscow but not Pskov) and that at least one of the drones was headed toward Moscow.

"This suggests that Russian authorities may have initially believed that Ukrainian forces intended to strike Moscow or the region around it. Therefore, they focused their air defenses on covering the capital and somehow failed to notice the unusually large number of Ukrainian drones that reportedly struck the Pskov airfield," ISW said in a summary.

Analysts believe the UAVs shot down by Russian Air Defense over six other regions were likely headed for Moscow or the Pskov region and were probably not part of Ukraine's efforts to strike targets in other areas.

At the same time, Russian propagandists and bloggers threw a tantrum over the attack. A Kremlin-affiliated blogger called the Ukrainian strike on an airfield in Pskov evidence that Russian Air Defense has not adapted to defend against repeated UAV attacks, unlike "how it has adapted in Crimea." He also criticized Russian authorities for "not keeping expensive military aircraft in hangars."

Another prominent propagandist expressed concern that there would be "no safe places" in western Russia due to Ukraine's growing technical capabilities, and suggested that Russian forces should take this into account when "securing military and strategic facilities."

Nevertheless, another blogger said the demands on Russian authorities to secure and protect Russian airfields are on a "qualitatively different level" from what they used to be.

Russian sources also challenged the Russian Defense Ministry's recent efforts at censorship, noting the need for "truthfulness and honesty in the coverage of Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory." One criticized official Russian TV channels for not reporting on the Ukrainian strikes. Vladimir Solovyov, a well-known Kremlin propagandist, expressed his outrage in response to the drone strike and criticized the Russian elite, which "urges the Kremlin to freeze the war against Ukraine" and negotiate to "save the Russian economy."

As OBOZREVATEL reported, two dozen unknown drones attacked military facilities in the Russian city of Pskov on the night of August 29-30. As a result of the explosions, four Il-76s burned down and a fire broke out at the Kresty military airfield.

Because of the explosions, Russians were hysterical and made up versions that they were "attacked by Latvia or Estonia". But the Ukrainian network reacted emotionally to the Russian explosions. Ukrainians created quite a few memes about the drone attack and the "SMO" that "goes according to the plan".

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