2024-07-31 14:30:45
Ukraine has apparently attacked three Russian airports. A super bomber is said to have been damaged in the process.
Several Russian airports in the interior of the country are said to have been attacked in a drone mission apparently organized by the Ukrainian secret service. Explosions and drone sightings were reported on Telegram and social networks.
According to a report by the “Kyiv Post” and the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne, there was an attack on the Diaghilev airport near Ryazan, about 160 kilometers south of Moscow, on Saturday morning (local time). There is a training center for pilots of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet there. At the same time, an oil field in the region was attacked, the newspaper reports, citing Ukrainian intelligence sources.
Just a few hours later, Ukrainian drones appeared near Engels Airport. This is where the strategic bombers of the Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 types are stationed. The Russian air base Olenya in the Mumansk region was also attacked. It is 1,800 kilometers from the Ukrainian-Russian border. According to reports that have not yet been officially confirmed, a Tu-22M3 super bomber was hit. Nothing is officially known about the extent of the damage. The Russian side has generally confirmed attacks, but it said that twelve Ukrainian drones had been shot down in the Kursk, Belgorod, Rostov, Bryansk and Lipetsk regions.
While the Western allies have still officially banned attacks with their weapons deep in the Russian hinterland, Ukraine has repeatedly been able to send drones as far as Moscow. Although many have been detected by the Russian air defenses, Ukraine has repeatedly succeeded in striking Russia on its own soil.
The targets are infrastructure, mainly oil refineries and storage facilities as well as military airfields. Bombers take off from these and then fire hypersonic missiles and glide bombs, among other things, at Ukraine. At the beginning of July, a hospital in Kiev was hit by Russian missiles, which was heavily criticized internationally.