Ukraine’s military launched another attack on a Russian airbase, thousands of miles from the frontlines. The attack took place overnight and targeted Savasleyka airfield in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
The airbase is home to a number of fighter jets, including the MiG-31 K, which can fire lethal Kinzhal ballistic missiles. Ukraine’s army said the attack had wiped out a MiG-31 K and a SU-30/34 aircraft, which are regularly used to launch aerial bombardments on the country.
A MiG-31 K costs around US$50 million (£37m) per unit, and an SU-30/34 a tidy US$36 million (£27m).
The attack on the airbase was confirmed by the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, Gleb Nikitin.
The Kremlin apparatchik said the drone attacks had been successfully repelled, although these claims appeared to be undermined by eyewitness accounts and video images posted online.
These showed drones flying towards the airbase and thick black smoke later rising from it.
Locals also said they heard a series of big explosions in the area around the airstrip.
Savasleyka is located approximately 650 km from the Ukrainian border and has already targeted in an attack carried out in August last year.
The Kinzhal, also known as the “Dagger”, is a hypersonic missiles that can travel at speeds of up to Mach 10.
This translates to approximately 7,600 miles per hour and it can travel up to 300 miles.
Russia’s military had claimed that the Kinzhal was impossible to intercept by air defence systems.
However, Ukraine shot down the first one in May 2023, using a US-made Patriot missile.
Each Kinzhal missile costs US$15 million (£11m) to produce, and Russia claims it can produce 60-70 a month – although this figure has never been confirmed.