– I see four to six completely destroyed aircraft shelters, as well as a completely knocked out building slightly north of the shelters. If there were aircraft in the shelters, they are also knocked out, on the plate to the right of the shelters there used to be SU-34s, but they don’t seem to have been left at the time of the attack, says Stefan Wilson, head of department at the Defense Academy and former JAS pilot.
Fuel storage must have been destroyed
Still images taken by a Russian private individual show that several fighter jets were under cover that was penetrated during the attack. According to the Russian military blogger Fighterbomber, ammunition had been stored in one of the shelters, which may have caused secondary explosions seen in video footage taken near the airport.
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Major Ukrainian drone attack on Russian air base
Fuel stocks were also destroyed, the military blogger states. The satellite images show extensive damage to large parts of the air base. One image is said to depict the remains of an SU-34 attack aircraft, but this cannot be determined from the image.
SVT has reviewed several video sequences posted by Russian private individuals on social media. Three of them have been geolocated by SVT.
Can force the Russians to move their attack aircraft
Satellite images taken in April 2024 show that there were 27 SU-24s and seven SU-34s at the base.
– It is a normal-sized Russian airbase. An SU-34 is a very potent attack aircraft and if you can limit Russia, it is good both from a strategic and operational point of view for Ukraine. It is a way to force the Russians to move their attack aircraft further away from Ukraine, away from the Ukrainian drones, explains Stefan Wilson.
40 miles to the Ukrainian border
Satellite images from the Planet show that there were a large number of fighter jets at the base as late as Wednesday. The drones took off from Ukraine, more than 40 miles from the base, which may have given the Russians time to move at least part of the warplane before the attack.
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The shock wave hits the apartment building – here are the clips from the attack on the air base. Photo: Arrowsmap/Telegram