New images show the extent of the damage to a Russian airfield close to NATO territory after Moscow blamed Kyiv for a drone strike that took out at least four Russian aircraft.
On Wednesday, Ukraine's military intelligence agency (GUR) told Ukrainian media that four Russian Il-76 military transport aircraft based at the western city of Pskov had been destroyed by drones. Pskov is one of Russia's closest cities to its border with Estonia, Latvia, and Kremlin-aligned Belarus.
Four aircraft cannot be repaired, a spokesperson for Ukraine's GUR told Ukrainska Pravda, adding another two jets were damaged. The Russian governor of the Pskov region, Mikhail Vedernikov, had posted footage of flames lighting up a huge smoke plume, which he said was from the strike at Pskov.
New images published by Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty, citing global imaging company, Planet Labs, shows that "at least 2 Il-76 aircraft were damaged on the night of August 29 to 30," the outlet reported. The publication then cited a military expert who said the drones had most likely tried to target the aircraft fuel tanks.
Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
The attack on the airfield, hundreds of miles from Ukraine's border, was part of a "massive drone attack" across multiple different Russian regions into the early hours of Wednesday, Russian state media reported.
Flights have now resumed from Pskov's airport after the fire, Russian state news agency, Tass, reported on Thursday.
Ukraine did not claim explicit responsibility for the strike, but is typically hesitant to do so when it comes to strikes inside Russia, which is a touchy subject among its Western allies, not least the U.S. But following the strikes, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said in a veiled post to X, formerly known as Twitter: "Did you know that Pskov Airport is named after Kyivan Princess Olha? Oh, what a spectacularly vengeful woman she was!"
Long-range Ukrainian drones are frequently soaring in Russian skies, with little indication this is likely to change as unmanned vehicles, and rapid advancements in uncrewed technology, dominate the 18 month-old war.
In recent months, Ukraine has upped its drone attacks on Russian territory as it forges on with its land counteroffensive in eastern and southern Ukraine. On Thursday morning, Russia's Defense Ministry said Ukraine had launched drone attacks across several different regions within Moscow's internationally recognized borders overnight.
Air bases have increasingly become targets for both Kyiv and Moscow. Earlier in August, a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle took out at least one of Russia's Tu-22M3 supersonic bombers at Russia's Soltsy airbase, in the country's Novgorod region. Kyiv has previously said the Tu-22M3 launches Kh-22 cruise missiles at Ukrainian territory.
In early August, Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had used long-range air and sea-launched weapons against multiple air bases in western Ukraine. The strikes targeted Ukraine's Starokostiantyniv base in the Khmelnytsky region, and another base close to the Ukrainian town of Dubno, in the Rivne region, the Russian government said.
Ukrainian regional authorities had said in late May that Russia had taken five Ukrainian aircraft out of action in Khmelnytsky, without specifying further.
Correction, 9/4/23, 1:30 p.m. ET: The image with this article was updated to show a Russian Il-76. The previous image showed an An-124.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more
