Ukraine claims to have destroyed Russian warplanes in drone attacks
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials said Friday they used a barrage of drones to destroy at least six military aircraft and badly damage eight others at an airfield in Russia’s Rostov region.
The assault appeared to be one of Kyiv’s biggest air attacks in the war, coming as its forces stepped up their assaults on Russian soil. Russia has also escalated attacks on civilian infrastructure, including Ukraine’s power plants, in recent weeks, signalling a new and potentially dangerous phase in the conflict as both sides struggle to achieve significant advances on the ground.
The overnight attack targeted a military airfield near Morozovsk in Russia and was conducted by Ukraine’s Security Service in co-operation with the army, Ukrainian intelligence officials said. They said about 20 members of the airfield’s personnel were killed or injured. Morozovsk airfield was used by Russian bombers that have been launching guided aerial bombs at Ukraine’s cities and frontline positions, the officials said.
If true, the attack would be among Ukraine’s most successful cross-border strikes.
In a conflicting version of events, Russia’s Defence Ministry said a total of 44 drones were “intercepted and destroyed” in the Morozovsk district, more than 100 kilometres from the border. The attack damaged a power substation, Rostov Governor Vasily Golubev said, adding that eight people near the airfield were injured.
Russian military bloggers confirmed an attempted attack by Ukrainian drones on a military air base in Morozovsk, but claimed there were no casualties at the base and no damage to warplanes.
The Russian Defence Ministry said nine more drones were intercepted over the border regions of Kursk, Belgorod, Krasnodar and the nearby Saratov region, bringing the total of attack drones deployed by Ukraine overnight to 53.
Drone warfare is a key feature of the war, which has extended into a third year since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour. On the 1,000-kilometre front line, where fighting is largely bogged down, low-cost drones are used by both sides to knock out expensive military hardware.
The Kremlin’s forces have used large numbers of Iranian-designed Shahed drones to bombard urban areas of Ukraine. Kyiv, in turn, has developed a small but fast-growing defence industry where drones, including deadly unmanned sea vessels, are proving effective.
Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted 13 Russian drones launched overnight at the southern regions of Odesa, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, but five missiles got through. Authorities did not report any casualties.