The drones that attacked military airfields in the Ryazan and Saratov regions are a joint development of the state structures of Ukraine and private business. This is reported by The Financial Times (FT) with reference to an unnamed adviser to the Ukrainian government on defense issues.
The publication notes that this week Kyiv demonstrated that it can deliver long-range strikes without Western weapons, with drones of its own production. Ukrainian Defense Ministry officials and analysts said the attacks are part of a new tactic designed to thwart the plans of the Russian army and show the public that nowhere is safe right now.
“The attacks are repeated. We have no range restrictions, and soon we will be able to hit all targets in Russia, including in Siberia. In Ukraine, we know how difficult it is to defend against such air attacks. Soon Russia will not have safe zones either.”
The Ukrainian government has not publicly claimed responsibility for the strikes, and many details remain classified. However, Ukraine's latest strikes are distinguished by their range, as well as the fact that they penetrated the Russian air defense system and hit strategic military bases that were previously considered invulnerable, writes FT.
Ukrainian defense officials and analysts say one long-term outcome of the attacks could be Russia dispersing its military forces inside the country, which would help protect them but make operations more difficult. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the drones were updated versions of the Soviet Tu-141 unmanned reconnaissance UAVs.
In early December, there were several attacks on airfields in Russia. On the 6th, an oil storage tank caught fire in Kursk due to a drone crash near the airfield, regional governor Roman Starovoit said. On December 5, an explosion occurred at an aircraft parking lot at an airfield near Ryazan, three people died and nine were injured. The state agency RIA Novosti reported that a fuel truck exploded at the airfield. Almost at the same time, a drone crashed on the runway of the Engels airfield in the Saratov region, two Tu-95 bombers were damaged.
On October 7, a Ukrainian drone attacked the Shaikovka airfield, where Russian nuclear-capable Tu-22 strategic bombers are based. The base is located 200 km from the border with Ukraine. It was from Shaykovka that Tu-22Ms were lifted, which hit the shopping center in Kremenchug with Kh-22 missiles.
