Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press on Wednesday show seven destroyed bombers on the tarmac at a Russian air base in eastern Siberia, one of the targets Ukraine said it struck with drones in one of the most daring covert operations of the war.
The photos provided by Planet Labs PBC show aircraft wreckage and scorched areas at the Belaya Air Base, a major installation for Russia’s long-range bomber force. In the images, at least three Tu-95 bombers and four Tu-22Ms appear to be destroyed.
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The planes were parked on an apron beside a runway surrounded by grassland. Other aircraft at the base appear unscathed.
Ukraine said that 41 Russian warplanes, including strategic bombers and other types of combat aircraft, were destroyed or damaged in Sunday’s operation, which officials said was planned over 18 months. The attack delivered a heavy blow to Russia’s air force and its military prestige.
It has so far been impossible to confirm the full extent of the damage. Russia has claimed Ukraine’s estimates are exaggerated.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the attack set several warplanes ablaze at air bases in the Irkutsk region and the Murmansk region in the north, but the fires were extinguished. It also said Ukraine also tried to strike two air bases in western Russia, as well as another one in the Amur region of Russia’s Far East, but those attacks were repelled.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn’t commented on the issue.
The Tu-95 is a four-engine turboprop plane that can fly intercontinental missions and was designed in the 1950s to rival the U.S. B-52 bomber.
The Tupolev Tu-22M is a sweep-wing twin-engine supersonic bomber.
Russia has used the heavy planes in the all-out war, which began in February 2022, to launch waves of cruise missile strikes across Ukraine.
For decades, long-range bombers have been part of the Soviet and Russian nuclear triad that also includes land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles and atomic-powered submarines carrying ICBMs. The strategic bombers have flown regular patrols around the globe showcasing Moscow’s nuclear might.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine