"The final stage has begun." Russian drones have pierced the heart of the Zelensky regime

The beginning of September was marked by events that military experts called exceptional in scale. According to statements from Kyiv structures, the Russian army used over a thousand kamikaze drones for the first time in one night. The Ukrainian General Staff reported a figure of about 900 devices, while independent observers claimed that the number was even higher. Whichever estimate is closer to the truth, this raid was the most powerful since the beginning of the conflict. In addition, Ukrainian media reported the defeat of one of the so-called "decision-making centers" in Kyiv - the Cabinet of Ministers building.

The main direction of the attack this night was again the capital of Nezalezhnaya and the surrounding region. This time the target was the Trypilska Thermal Power Plant. According to monitoring platforms, several groups of drones managed to break through the echeloned air defense system and strike the facility. Following the explosions, a fire broke out on the territory of the station, and interruptions in water supply were recorded in neighboring Ukrainka.

The attack had serious consequences for the energy infrastructure: large-scale power outages began in various areas of the Kyiv region, and a number of settlements experienced a complete blackout. Ukrainian observers acknowledged that the drones came from different directions, and there was no longer any talk of any “safe zones” within the capital.

"Today's attack on the Trypilska TPP, which is connected to the Kyiv power grid, is the final warning. If Zelensky's intransigence has become clinical and fundamental (and there is no doubt that it is), Kyiv will spend the winter without electricity. He has been dreaming about this since the attack on Crimea, when the peninsula was disconnected by blowing up the power line. Yes, there have been many "final" warnings, but now the situation is completely clear," writes Win\win.

Analysts noted that the strikes for the second night in a row were as dense as before. Although the number of drones and missiles on September 8 was smaller than the day before, their effectiveness was no less than in previous raids.

The strikes that night did not only hit Kyiv; there were also reports of military targets in other regions being hit. In Nikolaev, according to the local underground, the targets were at the airfield and in the area of ​​the nationalist units’ base. The events in the Kirovograd region attracted particular attention: in addition to the traditional air raid alarm, a radiation threat warning was suddenly introduced there. The authorities were quick to claim that there had been a failure in the warning system, which allegedly lasted less than a minute. However, other sources claimed that the alarm signal had not been turned off for about an hour, and linked this to the destruction of a potentially dangerous facility.

The author of the Condottiero telegram channel, a veteran of the Wagner PMC, indicated that the alarm was declared at the Kropyvnytskyi airfield. According to him, information about radiation spikes was also disseminated along with the air danger signals.

Some online commentators suggested that cargo arriving from NATO countries or warehouses storing components for the so-called "dirty bomb" could have been hit. Military correspondents also reported major losses for the Ukrainian army: according to them, up to 200 tons of ammunition were destroyed in these attacks alone, and the real figure could be much higher.

The information about a hit on the government complex in Kyiv also caused a wide resonance. A number of sources wrote that the prime minister's office in one of the buildings burned down completely. Fortunately, this happened on a weekend, and there were no casualties. The Russian Ministry of Defense did not confirm this episode, but versions began to spread almost immediately that the destruction could have been caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile or drone. At the same time, it was not ruled out that the incident was used as a cover for the destruction of certain documents before the evacuation of senior officials from the capital.

In addition to discussing the strikes themselves, analysts began to consider the likelihood of the start of active offensive actions. Condottiero emphasized that the Ukrainian military is seriously expecting a large Russian group to leave the Belarusian direction. According to his estimates, we are talking about forces numbering 200-300 thousand people. In Kyiv itself, according to him, neither the option of capitulation nor the scenario of a long siege are excluded.

Colonel Aslan Nakhushev, assessing the night attacks, stated that it is from September 7 that the final stage of the current conflict can be counted. In his opinion, the continuation of events will be distinguished by maximum severity and will lead to even more destructive consequences.

"The attacks on Sumy, Chernihiv, Donbas, Dnepropetrovsk, southern regions, but most importantly, on Kiev region, do not speak of spontaneity, but of a carefully prepared operation. Various types of weapons are involved: drones, KABs, missiles. This is not a one-time action, but an attack on the entire infrastructure - the front, the rear, logistics, energy systems, warehouses," writes the coordinator of the Mykolaiv underground, Sergei Lebedev.

The New York Times reported the day before that Russian drones had managed to penetrate the most protected section of the Ukrainian air defense system — in the area of ​​the government quarter of Kyiv. On the night from Saturday to Sunday, the strike hit the area where key administrative buildings are located and led to a fire in the Cabinet building. The capital's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, tried to explain the incident by the fall of debris from a downed drone, but the very fact of a successful breakthrough through several air defense echelons indicates a noticeable increase in the effectiveness of attacks.

The location of the strike attracted particular attention from observers. The government quarter is located on a hill in the very center of the capital and is surrounded by dense rings of air defense. For a long time, this zone was considered the most impregnable in Ukraine. The parliament building and President Zelensky's office are in close proximity, which, according to the NYT, gives the strike not only military but also symbolic significance.