Ukraine attacks Russian nuclear-capable bombers in Siberia
MOSCOW: Ukraine attacked Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers at a military base in Siberia on Sunday, the first such attack so far from the front lines more than 4,300 km (2,670 miles) away, according to pro-Russian bloggers.
BRILLIANT RESULTS
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed “brilliant” results from a mass drone strike targeting Russian airbases in what he called “our most long-range operation” in more than three years of war.
Zelensky also said agents involved in preparing the drone strikes had been “withdrawn” from Russian territory in time, after Russia’s defence ministry said several “participants” had been arrested.
CAUGHT FIRE
Later in the day, Russia confirmed that several of its military aircraft “caught fire” after a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack, in which suspects were detained.
“In the regions of Murmansk and Irkutsk, several aircraft caught fire following the launch of FPV drones from a territory located in the immediate vicinity of the airfields,” the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram, referring to first-person view drones. It added that there were no casualties and that several “participants” had been arrested.
Earlier, unverified video and pictures posted on social media showed Russian strategic bombers – whose purpose is to drop nuclear bombs on distance targets – on fire at the Belaya air base north of Irkutsk.
On the other hand, a Ukrainian government official told Reuters that Ukraine did not notify the United States in advance of drone attacks carried out on Russian air bases.
DRONE ATTACK
A Ukrainian intelligence official told Reuters that Ukraine’s domestic security agency, the SBU, conducted a large drone attack on over 40 Russian military aircraft.
The Ukrainian source, speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters in Kyiv, said the struck aircraft included Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers, which Russia uses to fire long-range missiles at Ukraine.
Igor Kobzev, the governor of Irkutsk, said that there had been a drone attack on a military unit near the village of Sredny in the Usolsky district, but did not mention strategic aviation.
In video that he posted on Telegram, drones could be heard flying overhead and a giant plume of smoke rising into the sky.
He said, though, that it was the first such attack in that part of Siberia – and added that the number of drones in the attack was unclear. The drones, he said, had been launched from a truck.
The Belaya, or Sredny, airbase is located near the village of Sredny, and hosts Tupolev Tu-22M supersonic long-range strategic bomber, according to open source details about Russia’s armed forces.
There was also a Ukrainian drone attack in the Murmansk region of northern Russia, according to local officials. The Olenya airbase, which also hosts strategic aviation, is located in the Murmansk region, according to open source data.
CAMOUFLAGED
Ukrainian secret services were able to attack strategic bomber aircraft at Russian air bases by hiding explosive-laden drones inside the roofs of wooden sheds, according to a Ukrainian security official and images posted online.
The sheds were loaded onto trucks that were driven to the perimeter of the air bases. The roof panels of the sheds were lifted off by a remotely activated mechanism, allowing the drones to fly out and begin their attack, the official said.
The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said strikes were conducted on Sunday on four air bases, and that a total of 41 Russian warplanes were hit.