ANALYSIS – In what appears to be the most serious aerial attack on Russian territory since the start of Vladimir Putin's invasion, Ukrainian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) attacked a key Russian air base near Russia's NATO border with Estonia and Latvia.
The aerial assault by up to 20 armed kamikaze drones hit the Pskov Airfield in western Russia, almost 500 miles from Ukraine and destroyed up to four massive Ilyushins Il-76 military transport jets.
The Soviet-era four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter is commonly used as an aerial refueling tanker or command center.
Eastern European news outlet Nexta reported that seven planes in total had been damaged by the strikes. Two Il-76s had been destroyed, another four had been damaged and a Tupolev Tu-22 supersonic bomber had also been damaged.
The military airbase, which doubles as a civilian airport, is believed to be the site of Russia's most combat-ready airborne division near NATO's borders.
Meanwhile, in the Russian-occupied Kherson region, Ukraine evaporated a $200 million Russian Predel-E coastal over-the-horizon radar system with precision US-made HIMARS missiles.
But these weren't the only attacks – at least six Russian regions were hit overnight by Ukrainian drones.
Russia claimed to have repelled Ukrainian kamikaze UAVs attacks in Bryansk, Oryol, Ryazan, Kaluga and Moscow regions, but explosions and fires were reported in the Tula and Bryansk regions.
The headquarters of the Russian Investigative Committee in Bryansk was also reportedly hit by the drone strike.
Air traffic was disrupted at three Moscow international airports because of the drone incursions.
The attack shows the increased reach and lethality of Ukraine's drones, though Russian sources claimed that the drones were not launched from Ukraine, but instead from “the territories of third countries and neutral waters.”
The Sun notes that: “Drones taking off from Ukraine would need to fly north along the borders of Russia and Belarus, Latvia and Estonia before reaching Pskov – a journey of almost 500 miles.”
British defense officials said last week that the daring strikes on Russian air bases may have come from within Russian territory.
But there were more attacks. The Sun added that the recent attacks: “…also marks the second daring late-night strike by Kyiv deep behind enemy lines in recent days.”
Friday, a spectacular Ukrainian nighttime missile strike at a military airfield in the Novgorod region of Russia where Putin's supersonic Tu-22M3 strategic bombers are based.
Ukraine reportedly fired a modified S-200 missile to blitz Putin's prized bombers based at the Shaykovka military airfield. Ukraine claimed that the attacks on Shaykovka and Soltsy air base had destroyed two of the supersonic Tu-22M3 strategic bombers.
And this is just the latest of an increasing wave of attacks deep into Russia. As the Sun reported:
Drone air strikes deep inside Russia, and often targeted at the capital, have increased since two drones were destroyed over the Kremlin in early May.
As August began, two drone strikes hit government buildings in the heart of Moscow in a devastating blow to Putin.
A week later, the capital was enveloped in further chaos as Ukrainian aerial assaults wreaked havoc above Moscow once again.
Two weeks ago, another huge explosion lit up the capital's skies after a drone blasted through a building only three miles from the Kremlin.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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Seeds for WW3
Talk to Obama, the CIA and DaBytch Nuland!
Our Democrats want to see war.
So they can blame the Republicans for it.
There was substantial evidence of fraud, that was not a false claim. The author is wrong.
Nice Shot Tex!
Very excellent news proving the orcs are not safe within the Rodina. When they invaded a peaceful country and began their killing of Ukrainian civilians, they should have expected consequences. There are people inside Russia blowing up helicopters and launching armed drones on Russian targets. Pootie must be messing his pants by now.