Russia's Federal Security Service has released video footage showing strike drones that it said Ukrainian intelligence agents planned to launch at Moscow's missile defence network.
The video recording, published on the Telegram channel of Russian broadcaster REN TV, shows security officers unearthing the unmanned aerial devices from concealed caches in the Kaluga and Smolensk regions. According to the agency, the equipment had been hidden by handlers working for the Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU.
The footage also displays the strike drones that the agency said were intended to attack the installation protecting the capital. During interrogation excerpts broadcast alongside the discovery, the detained suspects explained that they had been recruited by the Ukrainian service and instructed to configure and prepare the drones for an attack.
Remote Control from Ukrainian Territory
Under those instructions, the operatives were required to collect the strike drones from the caches, set them up, and power them on prior to takeoff. According to the Russian security service, further flight control and the direct strike against the capital's missile defence facility were to be carried out from the territory of Ukraine.
The video clip was circulated online with imagery credited to Colonelcassad, a prominent Russian military Telegram channel. REN TV, which published the recording, is a major national television broadcaster and news outlet based in Moscow that regularly reports on domestic security operations.
The Kaluga and Smolensk regions are administrative provinces situated in western Russia along strategic routes leading toward the capital. Smolensk shares an international border with Belarus to the west, while the Kaluga region sits directly southwest of the Moscow region, placing both territories within key transport corridors.
Moscow Missile Defence and Security Agencies
Moscow is protected by a dedicated missile defence network designed to detect, track, and intercept aerial threats aimed at the national leadership and metropolitan area. The strategic defence umbrella relies on long range early warning radar installations and surface to air missile batteries deployed in defensive rings across the countryside surrounding the city.
The FSB, which released the footage, is Russia's domestic counterintelligence and security agency, operating as the main successor organisation to the Soviet KGB. Its Ukrainian counterpart, the SBU, is Kyiv's primary state security and intelligence agency, responsible for counterespionage, constitutional protection, and domestic security affairs.
