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Ukrainian drones struck a Russian airbase on Friday, destroying two Su-34 fighter-bomber planes.
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The airbase is used as a staging level for fighter jets dispersed from extra weak places.
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Britain’s protection ministry mentioned that, regardless of these efforts, Russian planes are nonetheless below menace.
Ukrainian forces launched an assault on a Russian airbase that is used as a fallback spot for fighter jets pulled from extra weak places, a brand new Western intelligence evaluation mentioned.
Ukraine used long-range drones on Friday to strike the Marinovka airbase in Russia’s Volgograd area, over 270 miles from the entrance strains, destroying at the very least two Su-34 fighter-bomber plane.
Russia makes use of Marinovka for its day by day fight operations, however it has additionally functioned as a haven for dispersed plane taken from different threatened airbases, Britain’s protection ministry mentioned in a Tuesday intel replace that confirmed some particulars of the assault.
Su-34 fighter-bomber plane have been relocated to Marinovka from Morozovsk airbase, which is nearer to the entrance strains, after it was hit by Ukrainian drones in August 2024. Nevertheless, “regardless of these dispersal efforts to guard their plane, Russian aviation stays weak” to Kyiv’s assaults, the protection ministry mentioned.
The assault on Marinovka on Friday was a joint operation carried out by Ukraine’s SBU inner safety company, its Particular Operations Forces, and different parts of the navy.
The SBU mentioned that the assault destroyed two Su-34 and broken two different plane, whereas the navy mentioned all 4 planes have been destroyed. Ukraine additionally famous that the drone assaults brought on a hearth within the upkeep and restore areas of the airbase. Enterprise Insider couldn’t instantly affirm the main points of the operation.
Britain’s protection ministry mentioned Ukraine destroyed at the very least two Su-34s within the assault final week.Vadim Savitsky/Russian Protection Ministry Press Service by way of AP
The Su-34 “Fullback” fleet has been a major problem for Ukraine, as Russia arms these plane with its extremely damaging glide bombs and employs them to devastating impact.
Glide bombs are unguided dumb bombs fitted with particular kits that flip them into precision-guided munitions. With quick flight instances, small radar signatures, and non-ballistic trajectories, they’re extremely tough to intercept and have been utilized in lethal strikes on Ukrainian cities.
Russia’s protection business produces glide bombs in a variety of various sizes. Among the many bigger munitions is one which weighs greater than 6,000 kilos, which may be very damaging on influence.
Britain’s protection ministry mentioned Russia depends on its Su-34 fleet to execute “enormous quantities of day by day sorties launching glide bombs” throughout the entrance strains. It additional added that Moscow has now misplaced greater than 30 of those plane since its full-scale invasion started in February 2022.
Ukraine has made it a precedence to curb the glide bomb menace and has carried out quite a few deep strikes over the previous 12 months geared toward Su-34 plane, the airfields they’re primarily based at, and storage websites for these munitions.
The glide bombs proceed to be a significant problem for Kyiv. On Sunday, for example, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned Russian warplanes had launched practically 1,100 of those munitions over the earlier week.
The Marinovka assault comes amid Ukraine’s relentless efforts to degrade Russian aviation capabilities. Over the weekend, Kyiv carried out one other drone strike that focused helicopter operations at a base within the occupied Crimean peninsula.
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