Ukraine on Monday confirmed it carried out a drone attack on a Russian military air base located just more than 200 kilometers (130 miles) northeast of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian drone attack on Shaykovka air base in Russia’s Kaluga region left “at least one aircraft damaged,” Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, said in an interview with Ukrainian media Liga.net on Monday.
“At least one plane is damaged. As in most cases, the Russian regime is trying to hide the true extent of losses and damage,” Yusov said.
The Shaykovka military air base operates Tupolev Tu-22M3 supersonic long-range bombers that have been used by Russia to strike targets in Ukraine since the start of the invasion last year.
The Ukrainian air force reported on August 15 that aircraft operating from the Shaykovka air base had launched four Kh-22 air cruise missiles toward Ukraine.
According to Yusov, Monday’s attack was carried out “in clear coordination with the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.”
“There are people who, in coordination with the Main Directorate of Intelligence, completed the assigned tasks,” Yusov said, adding that this specific task was carried out from within the Russian territory. “In many other cases” Ukraine’s Intelligence performs various tasks from within the Russian territory, he said.
Russian social media blog Baza, which has close contacts with the Russian security services, said a Ukrainian drone had crashed on the territory of the Shaykovka air base on Monday.
Baza reported that “an unused aircraft at the airfield was damaged … However, this information has not been officially confirmed.”
Another Russian Telegram channel, Mash, said “the Ukrainian armed forces attempted to attack the Shaykovka military airfield in the Kaluga region.”
The Russian defense ministry has not commented on the incident.
