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Ukraine is suspected of attacking a major Russian airbase in Yeysk after massive explosions at the site, in another attack well behind Moscow’s front lines.
Russian wartime channel Rybar admitted to a hit on Telegram, claiming it was by a Ukrainian Tu-141 Strizh long-range drone.
Ukrainian sources also claimed the attack on the military airfield in the Krasnodar region, and one image appeared to show an explosion. “Residents assume it could even be missiles hitting the airfield,” one account said.
Russian authorities have denied an attack, but locals reported two loud explosions.
Black smoke was then seen billowing from the airfield, which is a base for attack planes used against Ukraine in Vladimir Putin’s war.
Ukraine is suspected of attacking a major Russian airbase in Yeysk after massive explosions, in another attack well behind Moscow’s front lines. Pictured: Flames appear at an airport in Yeysk, in southern Russia on the Azov Sea.
Pictured: Yeysk airfield in southern Russia is seen in this file photo before it came under attack.
A local newsgroup posted a message saying: ‘Something exploded twice and there was a fire. There was an explosion at the airfield,” the Rybar channel stated, admitting a Ukrainian attempt at the Yeysk base.
‘According to preliminary data, a Tu-141 Swift UAV was shot down. There was an attack on the territory of the base, but none of the aircraft was hit.
‘However, this attack is unlikely to be the only one. With a high degree of probability, the attempts will continue.
Russian authorities failed to agree on the cause of the explosions in Yeysk, which lies on the Azov Sea. One account said grass was being burned.
Another local official, Roman Bublik, said “military exercises” had been held. One more report said nothing had happened.
The scale of the damage in Yeysk was not clear.
Among the fighter jets stationed here are Sukhoi Su-34 bombers.
Ukraine has this week increased its attacks on Russia.
On Tuesday, the airspace around St. Petersburg was abruptly closed after a flying object, a suspected long-range drone, was reported in the vicinity.
Nothing was found, but attacks were also reported in Belgorod, Tuapse and the Republic of Adygea.
Another came within 60 miles of Moscow, indicating gaps in Russian defenses as President Putin ordered increased border protection.
Authorities said the drones did not cause significant damage or injuries, but the strikes Monday night and Tuesday morning raised questions about Russia’s defense capabilities more than a year after a full-scale invasion of the neighboring country.
Ukrainian officials did not immediately take responsibility, but similarly avoided directly acknowledging responsibility for past attacks and sabotage while stressing Ukraine’s right to attack any target in Russia.
Although Putin did not refer to any specific attacks in a speech in the Russian capital, his comments came hours after drones struck several areas in southern and western Russia, and after authorities closed airspace over San Petersburg.
Also on Tuesday, several Russian television stations broadcast a missile attack warning that officials blamed on a hacking attack.
The drone strikes targeted regions inside Russia along the border with Ukraine and further into the country, according to local Russian authorities.
Pictured: A Ukrainian combat drone that crashed near Moscow, near the Voskresensk gas compressor station in the Kolomensky district of #Moscow Oblast, in what is the first known attack on the Russian capital since the Beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin.
A drone went down near the town of Gubastovo, less than 60 miles from Moscow, Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the region surrounding the Russian capital, said in an online statement. The drone did not cause any damage, Vorobyov said, but probably targeted “a civilian infrastructure object.”
Images from the drone showed it to be a small Ukrainian-made model with a reported range of up to 500 miles, but no ability to carry a large payload of explosives.
Russian forces shot down another Ukrainian drone over the Bryansk region early Tuesday, local governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said in a Telegram post.
Three drones also attacked Russia’s Belgorod region on Monday night, with one flying through the window of an apartment in the capital, local authorities said.
Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the drones caused minor damage to buildings and cars.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine used drones to attack facilities in the Krasnodar region and neighboring Adygea.
He said the drones were shot down by electronic warfare assets, adding that one of them crashed into a field and another veered off its flight path and missed a facility it was supposed to attack.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported a fire at the oil facility, and some other Russian reports said two drones exploded nearby.
While Ukrainian drone strikes in the Russian border regions of Bryansk and Belgorod have become commonplace, other strikes reflect a more ambitious effort.
Some Russian commentators described the drone strikes as an attempt by Ukraine to show its ability to strike deep behind the lines, foment tensions in Russia and rally the Ukrainian public. Some Russian war bloggers described the raids as a possible rehearsal for a larger and more ambitious attack.
News of Wednesday’s attack in Russia came as Putin’s forces carried out relentless attacks on the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in their quest for a breakthrough in the year-long war.
However, a US official predicted little near-term territorial gains for Russia.
Bakhmut had a population of around 70,000 before the war, but it was ruined during months of fighting as a focal point for Russian attacks and determined Ukrainian defense.
‘The enemy continues to advance in the direction of Bakhmut. It does not stop storming the city of Bakhmut,’ the Ukrainian army said at a morning briefing.
A Russian takeover of the small mining town would open the way to take over the last remaining urban centers in the industrial province of Donetsk.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a video address Tuesday night, said the battle for Bakhmut was “very difficult” but that his defense was essential.
“Russia in general does not take people into account and sends them in constant waves against our positions, the intensity of the fighting only increases,” Zelenskiy said.
Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said Russian forces had opened a gap between two villages north of Bakhmut, Berkhivka and Yahidne, in their attempt to encircle the city.
“This advance on Bakhmut’s northern flank represents a clear threat to us,” he said in comments posted on social media.
Although most of the Russian attacks were focused on Bakhmut and other Donetsk cities and towns, the Ukrainian army said its forces had repelled 85 Russian attacks on different sections of the front line over the past day.
An MLRS multiple launch rocket system, based on the BM-21 “Grad”, fires a rocket, near the front line, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on 27 February. February.
A Ukrainian armored personnel carrier rides in Chasiv Yar, the site of the heaviest battles with Russian troops, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, February 27.
The Reuters news agency said it was unable to verify the reports from the battlefield.
Russia’s state-run RIA news agency published a video it said showed Russian Su-25 fighter jets roaring over Bakhmut.
“We are happy that they are ours,” says a man in the video identified as a fighter from the mercenary Wagner Group, adding that the planes helped them “psychologically.”
Ukrainian planes launched three attacks on areas of concentration of Russian forces, the Ukrainian military said in a statement late Tuesday.