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On the evening of March 20, Ukrainian forces launched massive UAV attack on the Russian Crimea. At least six Mugin-5 type UAVs with explosives simultaneously targeted the town of Dzhankoy located in the north of the peninsula.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine declared that the UAV attack resulted in destruction of Russian train with Kalibr cruise missiles. However, no evidence has been provided by the Ukrainian side. Reports from the area also did not confirm any damage to the railway, no secondary detonation was heard in the area.
As a result of the attack, none of Ukrainian UAVs hit Russian military facilities. According to Russian reports, two drones were shot down by the Russian Pantsir air defense missile system. Two Ukrainian UAVs did not reach their targets and fell on administrative buildings near the railway station. Wreckages of other drones damaged a grocery store, the local technical school, and private houses on Yuzhnaya, Gagarin and Chekhov streets. A civilian was wounded.
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The attack was carried out with the Chinese Mugin-5 commercial UAVs. The footage of the wreckage confirmed that they were upgraded with US-made propeller blades. Warehouses of the company producing these parts are located in New Jersey and California. The drones were filled with shrapnel.
The drones were likely launched from the Shkolny airfield in the Odessa region.
The town of Dzhankoy is an important railway hub in Crimea, which is actively used for military and civilian transportation and the railway was likely the main target of the Ukrainian attack. However, the AFU failed to cause any damage to it.
The attack was accompanied by information campaign. Local publics were filled with fake videos and reports about the explosions in the town. The attack was presented as Ukrainian revenge to Russia’s rapprochement with China aimed to criticise the Chinese policy amid the visit of China’s leader Xi Jinping to Moscow.
