Drone strikes on Russian military airfields near Ryazan (Diaghilev), in the Saratov region (Engels) and in Kursk showed the vulnerability of Russian strategic facilities.

While the Kremlin uses S-300 systems to attack ground targets in Ukraine, drones are able to overcome the air defense system and penetrate hundreds of kilometers deep into the territory of the Russian Federation.

Experts on the TSN Youtube channel revealed the details of the explosions at the air bases.

They note that Soviet drones from the 70s were used for the attack.

The attack was a serious signal both for the Russian Federation and the West.

Arestovych: the blow fell on planes ready for departure

As a result of the drone attack

, one bomber was destroyed in Diaghilev and three in Engels

.

This was stated by the adviser of the Office of the President of Ukraine

Oleksiy Arestovych

in a conversation with the Russian human rights defender and blogger Mark Feigin.

"

I can say according to Engels. 3 planes, two destroyed "to zero", the third is so significantly damaged that it is unlikely to be restored

," he said.

Arestovych, analyzing a photo of one of the damaged planes, noted that "there is a nice racket of the X-22 type hanging under the wing."

"

That is, the blow fell on another shift, ready for departure

. I can't say for sure, but it is quite possible that this is why there were 70 missiles instead of the usual 100 in the salvo - because the trio of planes could not take off," he assumed.

According to the OPU adviser, Russian President

Vladimir Putin

spoke with the commander of the "special operation"

Sergei Surovikin

in raised tones:

"The Air Defense Forces and the leadership of the army, including "our father" Surovikin, were dragged. He is in charge of aviation, he is an air marshal. Politicians in high tones, including the VVK personally, rehearsed - how did you allow and why, according to their version, a healthy drone can afford to fly with impunity ".

As Arestovych explained, the drone was able to overcome air defense "for a very simple reason":

"

Most of the S-300 and S-400 complexes on the border with Ukraine do not work for air targets, they work to hit the peaceful quarters of Kharkiv, Nikopol, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson

. And some of them are trained at the front, they are trying to provide air defense from our aviation. The largest strategic objects such as air bases with strategic bombers, which Russia does not produce and probably never will, it is a non-renewable stock, are defenseless."

What was the attack on the air bases

Military expert

Mykhailo Prytula

told on the air of the TV channel "Freedom" that the Armed Forces of Ukraine could use Tu-141 drones of the Soviet era to attack Russian airfields with strategic bombers.

"

We had these drones, there were more than 100 Tu-141s produced by Kharkiv in Ukraine

. This is a reconnaissance drone that is designed to overcome the front line supersonic. Then it flies at a cruising speed of more than 1000 km and turns back. We had these drones and there are, and they haven't been shared anywhere. Everything is made in Ukraine — the Motor Sich engines, the drone itself is made in Kharkiv," the expert noted.

According to him, these drones were produced on the territory of Ukraine back in the 70s.

"There is a Tu-141 glider, there is a Tu-141 engine. Of course, you can insert modern avionics there, it will fly where it needs to go and perform its tasks," Prytula explained.

As a military expert explained, the

Armed Forces of Ukraine could use the Tu-141 — for this, it was necessary to install more modern means of navigation

, which would allow to keep in touch with this drone along the entire route, so that a more accurate strike could be made.

"The Tu-141 and Tu-143 drones are relatively small monoplanes, one is 6 m long, the other is 13 m long. They fly long distances, there is a turbojet engine. There was equipment that allowed to record the location of the troops on photo and video. In no one will use film in a modern war. Apparently, it was all necessary to throw it away, put other equipment there, ammunition at least," he said.

To the question of how Ukrainian drones could overcome Russian anti-aircraft defense, Prytula answered:

"

Putin pulled all the anti-aircraft defenses into Ukraine in order to shoot S-300 missiles at civilians. He weakened this anti-aircraft defense and believed that no one would fly there

. Something must have flown."

What signal did the West and Russia receive?

In an interview with TSN, the executive director of the Democratic Initiatives Foundation named after Ilko Kucheriv

, Petro Burkovskiy

, noted that this attack on Russian military airfields was not the first, but it was a significant event.

"These are the links of one chain that began on August 9 near Sakami at the Russian military airfield in the occupied Crimea, when an effective attack was launched, destroying about 10 planes that were carrying out terrorist missions against Ukraine. Then there were strikes on Dzhanka, there were strikes in the Bryansk region .

But this attack on Russian territory stands out among others, because these objects are located in the depths of the territory, 800 km from the Engels airfield. The second is the objects where strategic Russian carriers capable of carrying nuclear weapons are based

, "said Burkovsky.

According to him,

this is "a very serious signal both for Russia and for our Western allies"

.

"Ukraine has shown that it can reach Russia where they were invulnerable. They did not think that such a distance could be covered by Ukrainian weapons. Why is this an important signal for Western allies?

It turns out that Russian strategic forces, including nuclear ones, can be neutralized very in a cheap way that doesn't involve retaliating

. Now Russia still can't say for sure who did this strike. They are thinking of us first of all, but it could be a Western country, it could be Israel, any country, which has contradictions with the Russian Federation, which Russia itself called targets for its attacks," the expert explained.

According to him, now

Russia "is in a difficult situation, its main forces of nuclear deterrence are under attack"

.

"This tells both us and the Western allies that the threat of a nuclear attack is significantly reduced, because these targets can be destroyed and aircraft capable of striking with cruise missiles must be destroyed.

This is not a turning point in the war, but a very significant event that shows that Ukraine's defense capabilities are growing

. This is a big plus and an argument in favor of further increasing the supply of Western weapons and Western components to Ukraine. And this is a very serious evidence of failures in the planning and protection of strategic objects of the Russian Federation," said Burkovsky.

Reference: attack on Russian airbases

On the morning of Monday, December 5, explosions rang out at airfields near Ryazan (Diaghilev) and Saratov region (Engels).

It became known that two Tu-95 missile carriers were damaged at the Engels Air Base.

A gas tanker exploded at the airfield near Ryazan, and a Tu-95 plane was damaged.

The Russian Ministry of Defense acknowledged the incident and reported that the explosions damaged two planes and killed 4 Russian occupants.

The strikes were allegedly carried out by "reactive Soviet drones".

On December 6, a fire broke out at the airfield in Kursk as a result of a drone attack, an oil storage tank caught fire.

Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, noted that Ukraine cannot confirm or deny involvement in the explosions.

However, according to him, the incidents at the Russian airfield in Engels, from where the Russians are bombing Ukraine, are good news.

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