On Monday, Ukraine would attack two Russian airbases located far from the border, having time to hit strategic bombers. Russia claims that the Ukrainian attack was carried out by Soviet drones and that at least three people were killed in the strikes.

Ukrainian attack on the Russian air basePhoto: Photo collage

On Monday morning, “the Kyiv regime (…) attempted to strike with a Soviet-made UAV on the Dyaguilevo Air Base in the Ryazan Region and the Enguels Air Base in the Saratov Region,” the Moscow Defense Ministry reported. statement.

The ministry accuses Ukrainian forces of trying to “disable Russian long-range jets” that have been used to strike numerous energy infrastructure on Ukrainian soil in recent weeks.

While these drones were intercepted by Russian air defense systems, their debris fell on the territory of the attacked air bases, causing explosions and “minor” damage to two aircraft, the report said.

As a result of these attacks, three Russian servicemen “received mortal wounds”, four more were hospitalized, the same source said.

Attacked Ukraine with drones?

It is unclear what drones Ukraine would use if they were Soviet-made TU-141s, as some Russians claimor were they new Ukrainian-made drones that were said to have a range of 1,000 kilometers.

On Monday evening, the first photos from the Diaguileve base also appeared on social networks.

The images show at least one Tu-22M3 strategic bomber, a plane that had at least one Kh-22 cruise missile mounted under its wing.

A truck near the plane was also hit by the blast, and there appears to be a trail of blood underneath the vehicle.

Explosions in Russia at two air bases where strategic bombers fly

Two powerful explosions occurred overnight from Sunday to Monday at different airfields in Russia, both of which are used by the Moscow Air Force as bases for its strategic bomber units.

Diaghilev Airfield, located approximately 4 kilometers from the city of Reazan, is used by the Russian Air Force to train its strategic bomber force.

The airbase is located 450 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

The Engels air base is one of the largest in Russia, the only one where Tu-160 strategic bombers are based, and has a runway of 3,500 meters.