Several satellite images are shown before and after the attack of drones that Ukraine was committed against Russian aviation airfields in areas, as distant as Siberia last weekend, on the eve of the second round of peace negotiations in Istanbul. They show how several strategic bombers were destroyed or severely damaged in the secret work of the secret services of Kyiv, called the web.
Ukrainian secret services guarantee that their drones reached 41 Russian aircraft. “An important part of them is irritably destroyed, and some damaged aircraft will take many years to be restored,” they said. According to Andriy Kalenko, the Council for National Security and Defense of Ukraine, at least 13 aircraft were destroyed, while others were damaged. Two sources in the United States informed Reuters that, in their opinion, drones reached 20 aircraft, half of the number estimated by KYIV.
Some of the affected military aircraft are part of the nuclear deterrence of Russia, but can also be armed with missiles that Moscow used to attack Ukraine from the very beginning of its major intrusion in February 2022.
Satellite images collected by Maxar Company on June 4 show damage on an important air base of Belaya, in the heading of Irkutsk, more than 5,000 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. Clouds can hide some parts. According to military analysts, at least two TU-22 bombers and three TU-95 bombers are valued on these images.
Source: Maksar
Source: Maksar
Images provided by Planet Labs also show damage to Belaya air base with a wider perspective.
Source: Planet Labs PBC
In the same way, on the images of Maksara, you can evaluate the assessments of the impact of drones on the Olnie air base, to the north -west of Russia – that Murmansk is already 1800 kilometers of the Ukrainian border.
On Tuesday, the Avivector Open Intelligence Group calculated that Ukrainian drones destroyed four Tu-95MS bombers and an AN-12 transport aircraft at this airfield.
On the other hand, Planet Labs images do not show significant damage to the air bases of Ivanov and Diangelovo, to the west of Russia.
Source: Planet Labs PBC
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) published a special operation on Tuesday, in which you can see how drones approach the wings, sides, upper and lower part of Russian aircraft at several airfields. SBU says that they record attacks on four Russian bases, and that among the injured devices there are strategic transport aircraft TU-95 and TU-160, TU-22, AW-12 transport aircraft and IL-78 air recovery aircraft, as well as early fish aircraft and air control (AWACS) A-50.
In some parts of the video, edited and with a duration of almost five minutes, you can see the smoke and flame of the aircraft, but the transmission is cut before some explosion. Some planes are covered with tires. According to BBC, it is Russian tactics, in the visible one, that seeks to soften the attacks of drones.
During the Operation “Teleranya”, Ukrainian uneven aircraft were thrown from truck trailers. Ukrainian agents say that it took his planning 18 months, which President Volodimir Zelensky personally controlled and that numerous drones in Russia were represented in Russia.
“In total, 117 drones were used in the operation, and on Sunday the corresponding number of drone operators was achieved. On Sunday, 34% of the carriers of strategic cruise missiles parked in air bases were reached, ”Zelensky said on Sunday. “Our employees worked in several Russian regions, in three different schedules. And the people who helped us were evacuated from Russian territory before the operation are now safe. ”
Ukrainian special services claim that they used artificial intelligence (AI) for direct drones during the web operation. In particular, they say that they used “autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) and manual intervention of the operator” to conduct attacks and note that some drones lost the signal during the flight and continued to use AI on a previously planned route.
Strategic aircraft are one of the three elements of the Russian nuclear triad, next to atomic submarines and intercontinental missiles.
The Russian Ministry of Defense admitted that the drones managed to achieve its goal in two cases, the airfields of the regions of Irkutsk and Murmansk. Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Riabkov said that Russia will restore the damaged team in attacks on the airfields. “The team under consideration, since representatives of the Ministry of Defense have already stated that it was not destroyed, but damaged. And it will be restored, ”said the diplomat quoted by TASS agency.
“This statement reflects complete ignorance or deliberate misinformation, since multiple planes have received irreparable damage,” he says, in X Emil Kastehelmi, Black Bird Group analytics, which indicates that visual tests are currently confirmed that 23 aircraft were achieved or approaching drones, less than Ukraine evaluated. “It is very unlikely that any destroyed plane would go unnoticed,” says an expert who is unlikely that losses will be built up to 41 destroyed or damaged aircraft.
Casthehelmi notes that before the operation, most likely in Russia, “had less than 100 operational strategic bombers in operating conditions, therefore, from 11 to 14% of Russian strategic bombers were probably destroyed.” Moscow, he adds, “cannot replace the lost bombers, simply putting it into operation of new ones, since neither the TU-95 nor TU-22M are made more than 30 years ago.” “Aircraft are aging, and a significant part of operational aircraft was quickly lost – some can not even be used as spare parts.”
In his opinion, although Russia used bombers in missile attacks on Ukraine, the threat of attacks on Kyiv “does not disappear directly with these losses, but especially in the long -term Russian strategic aviation is faced with problems.”
The Kremlin said on Thursday that it was the Russian military that would decide how and when to respond to a recent Ukrainian attack on Russian strategic aviation. The day before, US President Donald Trump said that Vladimir Putin told him “very firmly” that he plans to respond to attacks. During the call, Trump assured Putin that Zelenski did not inform them earlier.
For the analyst Tatyana is becoming the founder Similar center R. Political, the last attacks of Kyiv will only strengthen Putin’s determination to “dismantle the Ukrainian state in its current form.” “Your answer will be more difficult and less smug,” the expert progresses. “Russia Putin is now even more prepared for an endless battle and is more and more convinced that it wins and that it has the necessary resources to continue not only until 2025, until 2026 and further.”