Kyiv Post sources from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) have confirmed the largest attack on Russian airfields. The SBU and Defense Forces targeted four Russian airbases in what is the most significant assault on Russian military airfields in the entire war.
Sources confirm that this was a meticulously planned operation to prevent the enemy from using these airfields to launch guided aerial bombs along the front line and on Ukrainian cities.
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“The SBU continues to weaken the aviation component of the Russian war machine methodically. Aircraft currently give the enemy an advantage in the air, but we will keep clipping the wings of these ‘birds,’” said a source informed by the Kyiv Post within the SBU.
Earlier, Kyiv Post reported that Wednesday morning, Ukrainian drones attacked the Savasleika airbase, home to Russia’s MiG-31K and its hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, according to local reports.
Eyewitnesses reported approximately ten explosions near the airfield in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region in the pre-dawn hours on Wednesday, Aug. 14. Images and videos of drones in the area were shared on social media. Residents mentioned that access to nearby villages and towns, like Savasleika and Kulebaki, was restricted.”
Using NASA satellite data. the “Agenstvo” media outlet confirmed a fire near the airbase at 3:30 a.m., indicating that the drones likely reached the target at night. The fire was detected near buildings on the airfield’s premises.
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The Telegram channel Nikolaevsky Vanek reports that, according to preliminary information, 2 Russian MiG-31s were destroyed in the drone attack.
Gleb Nikitin, the governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, acknowledged the drone attack and highlighted that air defenses and electronic warfare systems were activated to counter it.
The Savasleika airbase is home to a MiG-31K regiment equipped with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. These combat aircraft regularly fly missions attacking Ukraine, typically firing the long-range missiles from the safety of Russian airspace.
The Kinzhal missile, introduced in 2018, was hailed by President Vladimir Putin as “the perfect weapon.”
Russian Telegram channels report that the Ukrainian Air Force overall reportedly targeted three airbases in the early morning of Wednesday, Aug. 14.
“The problem remains the same. The further the airbase is from the front lines, the more peaceful life is there. And covering a military airbase with one or two Pantsirs can only rely on luck,” wrote the well-known Russian Telegram channel FighterBomber.
According to multiple reports on social media, two more Russian military airfields have allegedly been targeted in the Voronezh region overnight – in Baltimor and Borisoglebsk.
The governor stated that the air defense forces and electronic warfare systems had “neutralized several Ukrainian aircraft-type drones.”
The Russian Defense Ministry reported the destruction of 118 drones overnight, with 11 downed in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Additional drones were intercepted across several other regions, and four tactical missiles were shot down over the Kursk region.
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