By Alexander Rubinstein ¡ May 2, 2023
Days before a failed drone assassination targeting Putin, Ukrainian banking baron Volodymyr Yatsenko offered a $500,000 bounty to any weapons maker able to land a drone in Red Square during Moscowâs upcoming Victory Day parade.Â
On April 23, a Ukrainian drone laden with 30 Canadian-made C4 explosive blocks crashed near Rudnevo Industrial Park in Moscow. Ukraine-based operators deployed the 37 LB arsenal in a failed bid to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was scheduled to visit Rudnevo that day.
The drone ultimately failed to hit its target, crashing roughly 12 miles from its intended destination. Russian media reported authorities discovered three similar unmanned aircrafts in the surrounding area. By the time the Canadian-manufactured bombs arrived in Moscow, the government in Ottawa had provided Kiev with nearly 6 billion dollars worth of aid to support Ukraineâs fight against Russiaâs military.
A Ukrainian UJ-22 airborne drone stuffed with explosives fell in the Moscow region. pic.twitter.com/ORTyyM4Edx
— S p r i n t e r F a c t o r y (@Sprinterfactory) April 24, 2023
The Ukrainian UJ-22 droneâs flight originated in the countryâs Kharkov region. Yuriy Romanenko, co-founder of a think tank with close ties to Kievâs intelligence services, credited Ukraineâs Secret Service (SBU) with orchestrating the assassination attempt. Romanenko wrote on Twitter: âLast week, our intelligence officers received information about Putinâs trip to the industrial park in Rudnevo⌠Accordingly, ours launched a kamikaze drone, which flew through all the air defenses of the Russian Federation, and fell not far from the industrial park.â
ĐŃŃин, ĐźŃ Đ˛ŃĐľ йНиМо
ĐŃĐľ видоНи нОвОŃŃŃ Đž Đ´ŃОно кОŃĐžŃŃĐš дОНоŃоН Đ´Đž ĐĐžŃквŃ, нО но вСОŃваНŃŃ? Так-вОŃ, Đ´ŃОн ŃŃĐžŃ ĐťĐľŃоН но ĐżŃĐžŃŃĐž ŃĐ°Đş. ĐĐ° ĐżŃĐžŃНОК нодоНо наŃи ŃаСводŃики пОНŃŃиНи инŃĐžŃПаŃĐ¸Ń Đž пОоСдко ĐżŃŃина в индŃŃŃŃиаНŃĐ˝ŃĐš паŃĐş в Đ ŃдновО. УдаНОŃŃ Đ´Đ°ĐśĐľ СапОНŃŃиŃŃ ĐşĐ°ŃŃŃ ĐżĐžĐľĐˇĐ´ĐşĐ¸ пО⌠pic.twitter.com/F2u8kClhPO
— Yuriy Romanenko (@shan_yan) April 24, 2023
âPutin, we are getting closer,â Romanenko warned.
The drone was carrying m112 explosive charges, which are used by several states including Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. According to Russian media, the explosives recovered from the botched attack were of Canadian origin.
The failed attempt on Putinâs life came amidst a wave of drone incursions into Russian airspace in recent months. A day after the unsuccessful April 23 offensive, the Russian outlet SHOT recorded 10 drone attacks in the Belgorod border region, some of which included French LU-213 fragmentation grenades and American-made Switchblade drones. The Switchblade has been used in previous air assaults on the region as well.
The uptick in drone attacks inside Russian territory followed Kievâs July 2022 launch of an âArmy of Dronesâ campaign, an official effort to raise funds, dubbed âdro-nations,â to assist Ukraineâs procurement of foreign-produced, unmanned aircrafts.
The fundraising push, which counts the Western-backed online troll farm, NAFO, and the Ukrainian World Congress as formal partners, has enlisted famed Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, as its top brand ambassador.
âHonored to be an Ambassador for the Army of Drones and to help President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine in any way possible,â Hamill tweeted in September 2022, attaching a photo of himself on a video call with Ukraineâs president.
Honored to be an Ambassador for the Army of Drones and to help President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine in any way possible đşđŚ@ZelenskyyUA @U24_gov_ua pic.twitter.com/1JafSR7Nny
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) September 29, 2022
The covert nature of Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russian territory makes them difficult to tally on an authoritative basis. A reporter for the British state-funded BBC pressed a Kiev official to provide such data to no avail while participating in a âa training session for Ukraineâs latest group of drone pilots in a secret location on the outskirts of Kyiv.â The BBC filed its dispatch from the heart of Ukraineâs âArmy of Dronesâ on April 25, just two days after the alleged SBU-directed aerial assassination attempt on Russiaâs president.
Leading Kievâs âdro-nationâ campaign is Ukraineâs Minister for Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, who âmakes no attempt to hide the deadly nature of these drones designed to smash into targets like soldiers or tanks,â according to the BBC.
âBut like the rest of his government,â the BBC continued, âhe refuses to talk about recent drone strikes on Russian territory.â
Non-governmental actors, however, are not so tight-lipped. In fact, Ukrainian television kicked-off a private initiative to encourage future drone attacks on Russian territory just days before the April 23 aerial attempt on Putinâs life.
Accused Ukrainian embezzler offers bounty for drone terror inside Russia
On April 6, Ukrainian finance and weaponâs industry magnate, Volodymyr Yatsenko, appeared on the Kiev-based TSN network and offered a cash prize worth approximately $549,000 USD to any national weapons producer that manages to land a drone inside Moscowâs Red Square during Russiaâs upcoming Victory Day celebration.
Russiaâs annual Victory Day commemoration marks the anniversary of Nazi Germanyâs 1945 surrender to the Soviet Red Army. Each May 9, millions of Russian citizens participate in marches throughout the country to honor their nationâs triumph over fascism. In Moscow, citizens and government officials gather in Red Square to view musical performances by Russiaâs national army band and a flamboyant parade of the countryâs troops and military hardware. The ceremony typically features speeches from the Russian president and Commander of Russiaâs Armed Forces as well.
Moscow announced the cancellation of Victory Day parades in its border region this April, following a surge of drone activity in the territory throughout the first months of this year.
On May 2, The Guardian downplayed threats of Ukrainian terrorist violence in Russia, stating that while a âUkrainian drone attack on Red Square during the Victory Day military parade would be humiliating for Putin,â his government was not calling off Victory Day marches âout of concern for public safety,â but due to a âparanoid obsessionâ that citizens may hijack the rallies to make statements about the current war.
The Guardian offered no evidence to support its portrayal of Putin as an irrational actor. Whatâs more, the center-left British paper neglected to mention Ukraineâs âArmy of Dronesâ campaign, or the fact that Yatsenko, a powerful Ukrainian oligarch, is offering a cash prize for an aerial assault on the Red Square event.
Characterizing the upcoming the Red Square celebration as a âvery legitimateâ military target during his April 6 interview with TSN, Yatsenko revealed that his own weapons company, Dovbush, is already âwarming upâ for the event. He proceeded to credit Dovbush with operating a drone discovered near a railway in New Moscow on March 28. At the time, Ukrainian media reported the drone was inscribed with Kievâs Nazi-era battlecry, âGlory to Ukraine.â
Describing the March flight as trial run for Victory Day, Yatsenko insisted that if Dovbush successfully lands a drone in Red Square on May 9, âaccording to the law, I will not pay the prize to myself.â
Concerns that Yatsenko may not adhere to domestic financial regulations within âthe most corrupt nation in Europeâ were not unwarranted. The banking tycoon established his career working for Privatbank, a Ukrainian financial institution established in the aftermath of the Soviet Unionâs 1991 collapse. Ukraineâs post-Maidan government nationalized the bank in 2016, after $5.5 billion mysteriously disappeared from its coffers. An investment banker later accused Yatsenko of orchestrating the withdrawal, telling the US-backed Radio Free Europe outlet he was âvery important in matters related to the nationalization of Privatbank, as he headed the direction of corporate lending.â The source, Serhii Fursa, charged Yatsenko with funneling the cash to Privatbankâs owners, namely Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky: the infamous patron of both President Zelensky and the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion.
âIn the morning, ordinary Ukrainians brought money to Privatbank, and in the evening, Igor Kolomoisky used that same money to drink champagne in Geneva,â Fursa said. âYatsenko was responsible for ensuring that this depositorsâ money went to Kolomoisky.â
Ukraineâs National Anti-Corruption Bureau later alleged that Yatensko withdrew âmost of the funds from the bank on the eve of its nationalizationâ in 2016, which he then transferred to his wife and daughter. Among the assets transferred to his daughter, Hanna, were those belonging to an agricultural company that owned â23 real estate objects, 500 land plots and 17 cars.â In February 2021, a charter flight carrying Yatsenko was âturned around and forced to landâ over Ukraine while en route to Vienna. Ukrainian authorities promptly arrested Yatsenko on charges of embezzlement and misappropriation stemming from his role at Privatbank. The office of Ukraineâs anti-corruption prosecutor is scheduled to proceed with his case this September.
While announcing his competition for a drone attack on Moscowâs upcoming May 9 Victory Day parade, Yatsenko declared the winning aircraft must not only land in Red Square, but be recognizable as Ukrainian.
âIt must have Ukrainian slogans like âGlory to Ukraine,’â the banking magnet insisted, invoking Kievâs Nazi slogan.
âLetâs create a âholidayâ for them,â Yatsenko concluded, raising his hands to emphasize the word âholidayâ with air quotes.
The Soviet victory in WWII, known as The Great Patriotic War in Russia, remains a source of national pride in the country to this day. The Western-backed government in Kiev, meanwhile, has incorporated neo-Nazi battalions into its military and venerated Ukraineâs WWII-era Nazi collaborators with official state honors.
As the prospects of Kievâs victory against Moscow on the battlefield wanes, its elite are openly promoting a strategy of aerial terrorism inside the Russian Federation. A celebration marking the defeat of Nazi Germany is perhaps their most natural target.
Alexander Rubinstein
Alexander Rubinstein is a staff writer for MintPress News based in Washington, DC. He reports on police, prisons and protests in the United States and the United States' policing of the world. He previously reported for RT and Sputnik News.
