This week, Russian strategic bomber bases in the Ryazan and Saratov regions, located about 50 miles from Ukrainian-controlled territory, were attacked with what are believed to be home-made drones.
What distinguishes the drones is that they have the capacity to fly significantly further than the drones that Ukraine has used earlier during the war.
– This is a reconnaissance UAV that was built at the end of the Soviet era in the 70s and 80s, which now appears to have been modified and which has a range of 100 miles, says Oscar Jonsson.
“A failure for the Russian air defense”
According to Oscar Jonsson, the attacks are remarkable for two reasons.
– The first is that these are the first attacks that Ukraine carries out deep inside Russian territory, which is a failure for the Russian air defense. The second is that both of these air bases are locations for the Russian strategic bombers. Russia has three such bases throughout the country. Right now, the strategic bombing flight is critical to Russia’s strategy to bomb Ukrainian civilian infrastructure and power grids, he says.
The fact that Ukraine has managed to penetrate so far into Russia has a psychological effect on the Russian military, he believes.
– Now Ukraine has shown that you can beat Russia deep inside. The second is that it will be more difficult for the Russian strategic bombers. You have to think differently, you may have to move them further from the front line, which means that Ukraine gets better warning when there are large robot attacks, he says.
Has not taken on the attacks
Ukraine has not officially claimed responsibility for the attacks, but several observers – and Russia – accuse the Ukrainian military of being behind them. In addition, the Ukrainian Air Force has in a Twitter post insinuated that they are the ones responsible.
“Ryazan, Russia. What happened?”, the air force wrote, accompanied by two images of two destroyed Russian bombers.
Why doesn’t Ukraine attack targets in Moscow? Hear Oscar Jonsson explain in the clip above.