Widespread drone attacks target key assets deep inside Russia, damage four Il-76 military transport aircraft in Pskov
After enduring 18 months of regular air raids by Russia, Ukraine struck back at its attacker overnight on Aug. 29-30, sending waves of drones to hit military and military-related targets across European Russia.
Explosions occurred at an air base in Pskov, Russia, around 700 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, and drone attacks were reported in several regions of the country, as well as in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Crimea.
The drone attack on Russia appears to have been the most massive since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022. Russian Telegram channels reported that at least 22 UAVs had swept through Russia’s skies.
The drones attacked targets in at least six Russian Oblasts: Pskov, Bryansk, Orel, Ryazan, Kaluga, and Moscow. Local authorities everywhere claimed to have "repelled the attacks," while the Russian Defense Ministry did not mention the strike on Pskov at all.
Read also: Drone strike damages four Il-76 aircraft deep in Russian territory
In fact, the most effective strike was probably that on a Russian military air base in Pskov: at least four IL-76 military transport aircraft and a fuel tank were reported to have been damaged. A fire also broke out at the air base, which is home to the 334th Military Transport Aviation Regiment.
Russian Telegram news channel Shot reported that 10 to 12 drones had attacked the air base at Pskov. According to Mash news outlet, one of the drones hit a fueling complex on the territory of the airport.
Local Telegram messenger channels also reported that a fire had broken out at military unit 64044 in the village of Promezhitsi, just to the south of Pskov air base. The unit is the home base of the 2nd GRU Special Forces Brigade, which has taken part in the war against Ukraine
The air base also has a civilian terminal, and the airport has been completely closed for flights until at least Aug. 31, local authorities said. The region’s governor Mikhail Vedernikov said the airport would remain closed until the "nature of possible damage" to its runway is determined.
Meanwhile, in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast, the roof an administrative building was damaged, and its windows shattered by an explosion from an apparent drone strike. Later, Russian media reported there had been a drone attack on the building of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, and an attempted drone attack on a TV tower.
In Kaluga Oblast, Russian media reported that glass had been smashed in a building and a UAV had hit "an empty oil storage tank."
Read also: What’s next for drone attacks on Moscow
In its overnight and morning reports on Aug. 30, the Russian Defense Ministry stated only that Russian air defenses had "stopped Kyiv’s attempt" to launch drone attacks in Kaluga, Ryazan, Moscow, and Bryansk oblasts, as well as "on objects on the territory of the Russian Federation."
In Bryansk Oblast, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz confirmed there had been a strike on the building of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. Bogomaz said that "two Ukrainian drones" allegedly tried to attack a TV tower in Bryansk, and he claimed that air defenses had managed to shoot down all of the attacking drones.
Later, Russian Telegram channels posted videos of the attack on the air base at Pskov, showing a huge fireball, and the sound of a massive explosion booming across the city.
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have "intercepted" another Ukrainian-made drone over Moscow Oblast, and the Russian capital’s Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports were twice reported to have been closed overnight due to drone activity in the area.
Earlier the Kremlin puppet leader in the Russian-occupied city of Sevastopol in Ukraine’s Crimea, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said that the Black Sea Fleet was "repelling attacks" of drones in Sevastopol Bay.
And before that, the Russian Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported the "sound of an explosion" and the possible operation of air defenses in Ryazan. Later, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that a drone had been "shot down" over the region.
Read also: Why Russia is struggling to defend itself against drone attacks – expert view
At the same time, the Russian news channel Mash wrote that a downed drone had fallen on one of the largest microelectronics enterprises in Russia, the Kremniy EL factory in the city of Bryansk. The Russian Baza news channel reported that 40 square meters of the plant's 16th building had been set on fire, but that the fire had been extinguished.
The attack on the Russian air base at Pskov comes days after another attack on an airbase in Russia, in Kursk Oblast.
According to NV's sources in Ukraine’s SBU security service, on the night of Aug. 27, counterintelligence officers from the 13th Main Directorate of the SBU attacked Kursk air base, using kamikaze drones to target four Su-30 and one MiG-29 aircraft.
The drones also hit S-300 air defense radars and two Pantsir air defense systems, the SBU said.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
