Swarms of Ukrainian long-range attack drones targeted three Russian air bases.The drone strikes on Yeysk, Kursk and Engels-2 air bases—respectively 100, 200 and 400 miles from the front line in Ukraine—inflicted some damage, but it’s hard to say how much damage.
The Ukrainian intelligence directorate told Kyiv Independent it damaged, if not destroyed, seven Russian warplanes. The Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies counted eight destroyed Russian planes and eight damaged ones.
But there’s satellite imagery confirming just one damaged jet—and it’s a doozy: a rare Beriev Be-200 jet-propelled flying boat. A new transport and search-and-rescue plane that can launch and land on water while carrying tons of cargo.
At least some of the drones that struck Yeysk, just across the Sea of Azov from southern Ukraine, exploded on the apron on the northeast edge of the base. There, the Russian navy had parked several of its planes, including some turboprop and jet transports, a pair of Sukhoi fighter-bombers and one of the 30-ton twin-jet Be-200s.
Satellite imagery from Planet Labs, recorded in the aftermath of the drone raid, seems to depict damage to the parked Be-200, including a missing wing panel and a fuel leak.
The Russian navy got its first Be-200 just four years ago and reportedly has three in its inventory, complementing a fast-shrinking fleet of very old propeller-driven Beriev Be-12 amphibians.
Maybe the damaged Be-200 is fixable. Maybe it’s a $40-millon write-off. In any event, it’s a tidy little victory for Ukraine’s growing drone strike force, which has been escalating its attacks on Russian air bases, headquarters and oil facilities as deep as 600 miles inside Russia.
To be fair, the Be-200 the Ukrainians plinked at the Yeysk base might not be a navy Be-200. It could be a company plane, one of two the Beriev corporation apparently keeps on its rolls for tests.
Beriev has a factory at Yeysk where it builds big jets including the Be-200 and the A-50 radar early warning plane. After shooting down two of the nine or so A-50s in Russian air force service earlier this year, in March the Ukrainians targeted the Beriev factory—apparently hoping to destroy a damaged A-50 at the site.
Source: Forbes