Explosions at Russian air bases & campaign of strikes against Ukraine

Explosions at two strategic airfields in Russia on December 5 may disrupt the Kremlin's campaign of massive missile strikes on infrastructure in Ukraine.

This is stated in the new report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW)

U.S. experts say that Ukrainian forces likely struck two Russian strategic air bases, Engels-2 and Dyagilevo, on December 5, causing minor damage to the airfields and "demonstrating Ukraine’s ability to strike Russian rear areas and possibly disrupt Russia’s campaign of strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure".

The Russian Defense Ministry as well as a number of bloggers reported that Ukrainian forces used UAVs to strike the Engels-2 airbase in the Saratov region (about 507 kilometers from Ukrainian territory) and the Dyagilevo airbase in the Ryazan region (about 724 kilometers from Ukrainian territory).

Both air bases house elements of the Russian strategic bomber fleet, which Russia used to strike Ukraine throughout the war.

However, Ukrainian authorities have not yet officially claimed responsibility for the strikes.

Russian sources claim that a Ukrainian drone struck at the Engels-2 airbase in Russia's Saratov region, damaging the strategic bombers and missile launchers.

Also, Russian sources tell us that a Ukrainian drone destroyed a Russian gas tanker at the Dyagilevo airbase in Russia's Ryazan Region.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the strike was deliberately directed at Russian long-range aviation.

"Ukrainian forces likely conducted strikes on two Russian strategic airbases on December 5, inflicting light damage while demonstrating Ukraine’s ability to strike Russian rear areas and possibly disrupt Russia’s campaign of strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure," the report says.

ISW also notes that anger over the Russian military's inability to prevent Ukrainian strikes against Russian strategic airbases more than 450 kilometers away from Ukrainian positions outweighed praise for the latest round of strikes against Ukraine in the Russian blogging community.

Russian "war correspondents" criticized Russian officials for failing to anticipate and prevent drone strikes against Engels-2 and Dyagilevo air bases on December 5. Some of them noted that the Russian military did not adequately protect the airbases, despite the fact that they "knew that they were obvious targets for Ukrainian strikes.

Author – Anastasiya Glotova, 06/12/2022