Ukraine confirms 5 strategic bombers damaged in drone attacks on Russian airfields

The latest drone attacks on Russian regions Novgorod and Kaluga resulted in the destruction of a Russian strategic bomber and damaging four more, according to Kyiv’s Security and Defense Forces.

Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform cited the Security and Defense Forces as confirming the report of the attack.

Moscow had said on Saturday that Kyiv carried out a “terrorist attack” with a copter-type drone on a military airfield in the Novgorod Region, state news agency TASS cited head of the Soltsy municipal district Maxim Timofeyev as saying. The attack caused fire at a plane parking area, which was promptly eliminated by firefighters. The Defense Ministry underscored that one plane was damaged, but no one was injured in the attack.

Additionally, a drone was shot down in the Kirovsky district of the Kaluga Region, there is no damage, Governor Vladislav Shapsha was cited by TASS as saying. He claimed that there were no casualties or damage to infrastructure as a result of the drone attack.

The Ukrainian confirmation comes a day after the UK Defense Ministry reported in an intelligence report: “On 19 August 2023, a Tu-22M3 BACKFIRE medium bomber of Russia’s Long Range Aviation (LRA) was highly likely destroyed at Soltsky-2 Airbase in Novgorod Oblast, 650 km away from Ukraine’s border. The Russian Defense Ministry said that a copter-style uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) was responsible for the attack.”

The British ministry assessed that if true: “This adds weight to the assessment that some UAV attacks against Russian military targets are being launched from inside Russian territory. Copter UAVs are unlikely to have the range to reach Soltsky-2 from outside Russia.”

“Russia has frequently used BACKFIRE bombers to launch the notoriously inaccurate AS-4 KITCHEN heavy anti-ship missiles against Ukraine. Early in the war, they also carried out the intense bombardment of Mariupol using unguided bombs,” the intelligence update said.

It added: “This is at least the third successful attack on LRA airfields, again raising questions about Russia’s ability to protect strategic locations deep inside the country.”

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