Retired navy captain and military analyst Vasily Dandykin believes the recent strike on Beslan was a deliberate attempt by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to showcase their long-range capabilities. In his view, the city was attacked with fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.

He suggested that Kiev was trying to signal it can operate at extended ranges despite setbacks on the front line, and added that, in his assessment, the drones used over Beslan were aircraft-type UAVs and likely not deployed in large numbers. Dandykin also pointed out that, in his opinion, Ukraine’s main focus remains the southern direction.

The expert recalled that during the night, a drone threat alert was announced across several Russian regions: Rostovskaya and Voronezhskaya regions, Krym and Krasnodarskiy krai. Similar alerts, he said, were issued in the new Russian regions — Khersonskaya and Zaporozhskaya regions and the Donetskaya Narodnaya Respublika (DNR). In those areas, according to Dandykin, the Ukrainian side is actively using other types of weapons, primarily HIMARS multiple rocket systems and even strike quadcopter drones.

Speaking about the possible flight path of the UAVs, he suggested that the drones could have flown over the Chernoye more, changed course there and then reached Osetiya. He also noted that hostile drones have previously managed to reach Chechnya and the city of Kaspiysk in Dagestan.

Earlier, the head of Severnaya Osetiya, Sergei Menyaylo, reported that in Beslan, drone debris fell onto the roof of a five-storey residential building. The impact damaged the roof and windows, and three people were injured.