Yesterday I wrote about the not terribly impressive Russian offensive which seems to mostly consist of sending waves of untrained and poorly equipped men at the Ukrainian front lines in hopes of gaining a little territory. Today, Russia is dealing with drone attacks on its own soil. And while no one has taken credit for the attacks, the drones are obviously coming from Ukraine.

A flurry of drone attacks on Monday night and Tuesday morning targeted regions inside Russia along the border with Ukraine and deeper into the country, according to local Russian authorities.

A drone fell near the village of Gubastovo, 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Moscow, Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the region surrounding the Russian capital, said in an online statement.

The drone didn’t inflict any damage, Vorobyov said. He didn’t specifically describe the drone as Ukrainian, but said that it likely targeted “a civilian infrastructure object.”…

Russian forces early Tuesday shot down a Ukrainian drone over the Bryansk region, local Gov. Aleksandr Bogomaz said in a Telegram post. He said there were no casualties.

Three drones also targeted Russia’s Belgorod region on Monday night, with one flying through an apartment window in its namesake capital, local authorities reported. Regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said the drones caused minor damage to buildings and cars but no casualties.

Here’s an image of the drone that crashed in the vicinity of Moscow.

#Russia: A Ukrainian UKRJET UJ-22 UAV crashed close to the Voskresensk gas compressor station in the Kolomensky district of #Moscow Oblast.

It would've travelled 600km+ if launched from Ukrainian territory- possibly the deepest attempted Ukrainian drone strike of the war. pic.twitter.com/N4rSYZ6mMV

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) February 28, 2023

Many of the drones may have been ineffective but not all of them. A Russian oil depot was set on fire in Krasnodar, a city directly east of Crimea.

BREAKING:

Ukrainian drones have attacked an oil depot in Tuapse, Krasnodar Krai.

The attack was successful as the depot is now on fire.

Tuapse is more than 450 km from the nearest Ukrainian-held position. The Russians must be getting nervous.

pic.twitter.com/qDTgsyeXhj

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 28, 2023

Russian oil depot in Tuapse, Krasnodar after a Ukrainian drone attack. pic.twitter.com/SrWIiBXhEr

— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) February 28, 2023

Because of the attacks the airspace near St. Petersburg was closed:

Russia temporarily closed airspace over St. Petersburg, and the city’s Pulkovo Airport temporarily suspended all flights, the city government said on Tuesday.

The announcement was made on the city government’s official Telegram channel amid unconfirmed reports that an unidentified object or a drone was spotted above St. Petersburg.

“Pulkovo Airport temporarily does not accept or send aircraft,” it said, without elaborating on the suspension.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed it was running drills. There are also reports that some Russian radio and TV stations were hacked:

Russian media reported on Tuesday morning that in several Russian regions an air raid alarm interrupted the programming of several TV channels and radio stations.

Footage posted by some news sites showed TV sets displaying a yellow sign with a person heading to a bomb shelter, with a female voice repeating: “Attention! Air raid alarm. Everyone should head to a shelter immediately.”

Russia’s Emergency Ministry said in an online statement that the announcement was a hoax “resulting from a hacking of the servers of radio stations and TV channels in some regions of the country.”

That didn’t do any harm but it probably raised blood pressure in a few places where it went off.

"Radio stations and TV channels in some regions of the country broadcast air raid warnings after their servers had been hacked. The Russian Emergencies Ministry reports that this information is false and untrue," the Russian spokesperson said. pic.twitter.com/5rgH9cxMUJ

— Yasmina (@yasminalombaert) February 28, 2023

It will be interesting to see if Ukraine starts taking the war into Russian territory whether that helps or hurts Putin’s war effort. So far these attacks are nothing compared to what his artillery has done to eastern Ukraine but the attacks could have some propaganda value for him. Still, it’s not clear it will matter if Russian troops can’t mount a more effective offensive within Ukraine.