Summary

  • Ukraine hit far-northern Russian air base previously out of reach.
  • Ukraine conducted longest-distance strike in Russia, attacking 3 air bases.
  • Unclear if Tu-22M3 was destroyed in the attack at Olenya Air Base.

Once again, it seems Ukraine has demonstrated its ability to reach out and strike at far-flung Russian air bases far behind the front lines. Ukraine has reported destroying (or damaging) another Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3 strategic bomber on the ground. So far in this war, Ukraine has been independently confirmed to have damaged or destroyed two other Tu-22M3 bombers on the ground and appears to have shot a Tu-22M3 down as it was preparing to bomb Ukraine last April.

Ukraine’s deepest Russian strike yet

Ukraine’s strike on the Olenya Air Base in far northern Russia near Finland marks the first time Ukraine has struck Russian territory within the Arctic Circle not far from Murmansk.

A Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-22M3 just after taking off.

According to the Ukrainian newspaper Pravda, Ukraine flew drones a staggering 1,100 miles across Russia to hit the remote airbase. This smashes Ukraine’s previous longest-distance strike in Russia by 300 miles and places an ever-increasing number of Russian air bases and other strategic assets in harm’s way. It is another remarkable development in how much Russia’s Full Scale Invasion of Ukraine has continued to backfire.

Pravda states, “On the night of July 27… drones attacked military airfields and an oil refinery in Russia.” A total of three Russian air bases are believed to have been targeted that night.

It is unclear what kamikaze drone Ukraine used in the attack. Previous long-distance attacks were carried out with propeller-driven sports planes modified as drones called the Aeroprakt A-22 Foxbat and Aerosor Nynja.

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Tu-22M3 destruction not confirmed

While many open-source intelligence accounts seemed to treat the claims of damaging or destroying the Tu-22M3 as credible, there is no independent confirmation of the strike. As of the time of writing (July 29), there is no clear satellite imagery showing a Tu-22M3 destroyed on the ground at Olenya. The outcome of the attack may never be clear as Russia is unlikely to confirm any loss, and damage to aircraft is not always visible from satellite imagery.

Russia is known to base Tu-95MS, Tu-22M3s, Tu-134UBLs, and Il-78s there (an aircraft repair facility is also located there). Russia is believed to have around 22 Tupolev Tu-95s, 60 Tu-22M3s, and 17 Tupolev Tu-160s at its disposal.

A terrible week

Concurrently, in a separate string of developments, it does seem the Russian Air Force has had a terrible week. A Su-34 Flanker crashed in Volgograd, one Su-30SM was destroyed, and another was damaged at an airbase in Crimea from a Ukrainian ACTAMS missile attack, and three helicopters (Mi-28, Mi-8, and KA-226) are claimed to have been damaged or destroyed on the ground. More helicopters have also been claimed to have been hit in recent days.

Additionally, a Mi-24P helicopter of the Russian paramilitary / mercenary group Wager was destroyed in operations in the African country of Mali.

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