Ukraine Strikes Deep: Daring Drone Assault Devastates Russian Airbases

Ukraine has unleashed its most audacious drone attacks yet, striking multiple Russian airbases deep inside enemy territory and setting dozens of combat aircraft ablaze, according to a source within Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU).

This marks the largest coordinated drone offensive by Ukraine since the war began, targeting four airbases spread hundreds of miles apart. The SBU source described the strikes as leaving Russian bombers “burning en masse,” adding that the drones had been covertly launched from trucks stationed within Russia itself.

More than 40 aircraft—including TU-95 and TU-22M3 strategic bombers and one of Russia’s few remaining A-50 surveillance planes—were reportedly hit.

Among the airfields targeted:

Belaya Airbase near Irkutsk, approximately 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) from Ukraine’s border

Dyagilevo Airbase in Ryazan, about 520 kilometers (320 miles) from Ukraine, home to Russia’s strategic bomber training

Olenya Airbase near Murmansk in the Arctic Circle, more than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from Ukraine

Ivanovo Airbase, over 800 kilometers (500 miles) from Ukraine, a key hub for Russian military transport aircraft

The Russian Ministry of Defense acknowledged Ukraine’s strikes, calling them “terrorist attacks.” The ministry said drone attacks were repelled in the Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions, but admitted that “several aircraft” caught fire at bases in Murmansk and Irkutsk. Officials claimed the fires had been extinguished.

No casualties were reported, but some alleged “participants in the terrorist attacks” had been detained, the ministry added.

Irkutsk regional governor Igor Kobziev confirmed that drones had been launched from a truck near the Belaya base. Kobziev noted on Telegram that the exact number of drones used remains unknown, though emergency and security services were at the scene.

According to the SBU source, the attacks targeted aircraft that bomb Ukrainian cities nightly, with damage to the Russian side estimated at over \$2 billion.

One video supplied by the source shows flames engulfing the Belaya airfield, accompanied by the voice of Lt. Gen. Vasyl Malyuk, head of the SBU, commenting: “How beautiful Belaya airfield looks now. Enemy’s strategic aircraft.”

CNN verified the location of that video and two others showing smoke billowing from Belaya airbase. CNN could not independently verify other videos shared by the SBU.

The SBU source described the operation as “extremely complicated logistically,” explaining that the drones were hidden beneath the roofs of wooden mobile homes loaded onto trucks. “At the right moment,” the source said, “the roofs were remotely opened, and the drones launched to strike Russian bombers.”

One video allegedly shows drones rising from a truck while nearby cars drive past. Another image shows the truck’s roof discarded on the ground.

The source added that all personnel involved in the attacks had safely returned to Ukraine.