Vladimir Putin’s prized weapons went up in flames last night after a devastating Ukrainian drone blitz on three different military air bases. Costly bombers were wiped out during an assault on the Engels, Yeisk and Morozovsk military bases.
A senior Kyiv intelligence source later confirmed to Reuters that the attack on the Morozovsk air base in the Rostov region wiped out at least six Russian warplanes in a joint operation between the security services and military.
The blitz also damaged at least eight more bombers in the region. The official said: “The results of the joint special operation are impressive – at least six military aircraft of the Russian Federation were destroyed, and another eight were significantly damaged.”
He added that around 20 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded.
The Russian defence ministry earlier confirmed that Russian air defences had downed 53 Ukrainian drones overnight, most of them over the Rostov region.
Rostov Governor Vasily Golubev was forced to admit that a “massive attack” had also damaged a power substation in the region.
The Morozovsk military airfields hosts President Putin’s prized Su-34 frontline jets, which are each worth £40 million.
Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko said that the Su-34 planes “keep bombing the Ukrainian frontlines with guided aerial bombs”.
The attack on Engels air base, a major operations centre in Saratov, is thought to have targeted the Tupolev Tu-160, a supersonic nuclear bomber.
Video footage shared on Russian Telegram channels from the overnight ambush showed the sky erupting into a blaze as missiles rained down from the sky.
Huge clouds of smoke and fire could be seen billowing out from the strategic bases.
At least ten explosions were also reported near a third military airbase in Yeisk, Krasnodar Krai.
Kursk Oblast Governor Roman Starovoyt also confirmed that at least four Ukrainian drones had attacked the border region overnight.
Ukraine has stepped up its drone attacks on targets in Russia in recent weeks, focusing on oil refineries in an effort to reduce Russian oil revenue.
