2024-08-19 22:56:01
More than 100 drones have apparently attacked Russian air bases. It is still unclear how extensive the damage is.
Ukraine carried out a major attack on air force facilities on Russian territory on Wednesday. The Russian Defense Ministry reported that it had shot down 117 Ukrainian drones and four missiles. 37 drones were intercepted over Kursk, and others in the Voronezh, Belgorod, Bryansk and Volgograd regions. A Russian military blogger reported that three Russian military airports had been attacked. One was the Zavasleyka airport in the Nizhny Novgorod region, and the other two facilities in Voronezh. The Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday that a fourth airfield had been attacked.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed the attack on Facebook. According to the “Kyiv Independent”, the operation was carried out by the Ukrainian Air Force and the secret services SBU and HUR. The aim was to prevent Russia from further attacks on Ukraine with its fighter jets, the report said. However, it is still unclear whether the wave of attacks was successful. “We are waiting for satellite images,” a government source told the “Kyiv Independent”. The person spoke of one of the “largest attacks” on Russian air bases.
Videos posted by Russian bloggers on Telegram showed explosions that allegedly took place in Nizhny Novgorod, where, among other things, the fighter jets that can fire Russian Kinzhal missiles are stationed.
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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty published NASA satellite images that appear to confirm fires near the Zavasleyka and Voronezh air bases. Russian Telegram channels also circulated several videos showing flying drones and anti-aircraft fire in the Voronezh and Nizhny Novgorod regions.
Kursk airfield, also known as Chalino airbase, houses MiG-29 fighter jets and is located about 95 kilometers from Ukraine. Other bases are up to 650 kilometers from the Ukrainian-Russian border.
Ukraine has carried out a series of attacks on air bases in an attempt to weaken the Russian Air Force. An attack on an air base in the Lipetsk region on August 9 destroyed more than 700 bombs, a Ukrainian intelligence source told the Kyiv Independent.