A third Russian airspace was set on fire by a drone strike on Tuesday, a day after Ukraine showed a new ability to penetrate hundreds of kilometers of Russian airspace with attacks on two Russian airbases.
Authorities in the Russian city of Kursk, near Ukraine, released photos of black smoke over an airport early Tuesday morning after the latest attack. An official said an oil storage tank was set on fire, but no casualties were reported.
This comes a day after Russia confirmed it had been hit by Soviet-era drones at Engels airbase, home to Russia’s giant fleet of strategic bombers, and at Ryazan, just a few hours’ drive from Moscow. Kiev did not directly take responsibility for the attacks, but congratulated them.
“If Russia considers the incidents to be deliberate attacks, it will likely recognize these as some of the biggest strategically important failures in force protection since the invasion of Ukraine,” the UK’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The Russian chain of command will most likely try to identify Russian officials deemed responsible for authorizing the incident and try to impose harsh sanctions on them.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense said that three soldiers were killed in the attack in Ryazan. While the attacks hit military targets, they described them as terrorism and said their aim was to disable their long-range aircraft.
The New York Times, citing a senior Ukrainian official, said the drones involved in Monday’s attacks were launched from Ukrainian soil and at least one of the attacks was carried out with the help of special forces close to the base.
Ukraine never accepts responsibility for attacks inside Russia. When asked about the attacks, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleskiy Reznikov repeated an old joke that the explosions at Russian bases were caused by careless smokers.
“Russians usually smoke in places where smoking is prohibited,” he said.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych went further, noting that Engels is the only fully equipped Russian base for the giant bombers used by Russia in attacks on Ukraine.
“They will try to disperse (strategic planes) to airports, but all this complicates the operation against Ukraine. Yesterday we achieved a huge result thanks to their unsuccessful smoke,” he said.
Russian experts said on social media that if Ukraine can hit Russia that much, it can hit Moscow as well.
“The ability of the Ukrainian armed forces to hit military targets deep within the territory of the Russian Federation has a very symbolic and important meaning,” Ukrainian military analyst Serhiy Zgurets said on the Espreso TV website.
source: Noticias
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.