Images allow us to see behind the scenes of a great operation in which Ukraine picked up Russia by surprise
Ukraine’s drone attack on Russian aerodromes was bold and bold. But above all, it was meticulously planned and executed without failure.
Kiev attacked where he could make a difference, damaging or destroying military aircraft that Moscow has used to terrorize Ukrainian civilians with almost daily air strikes.
The Ukrainian security service stated that 41 Russian planes were hit, including strategic bombers and surveillance planes, although it is unclear how completely out of action were.
Justin Bank, senior researcher at the Royal United Services Institute in London, argued that the attack was “an impressive success for Ukraine’s special services.”
“If even half of the total claim of 41 damaged/destroyed aircraft is confirmed, this will have a significant impact on the ability of Russian long -range aviation force to maintain its regular large -scale cruise missile saved against cities and Ukrainian infrastructures, while maintaining its nuclear dissuasion and signaling patrols against Nato and Japan,” in a note.
This is what we know about the unfolding of the attack.
Attacks from the interior of Russia
The attacks aimed at four aerodromes in the interior of Russia, being the most distant, Beauty’s base in the Irkutsk region, about 4,500 kilometers from the Ukraine border with Russia.
The other targets included the base of Olenya, near Murmansk, in the Arctic Polar Circle, more than 2,000 kilometers from Ukraine; Diaghilev Air Base in the Ryazan region, about 520 kilometers from Ukraine; and Ivanovo Air Base, which is a base for Russian military transport aircraft, about 800 kilometers from the border.
An image shared by SBU, the Ukrainian security agency also showed another base in the eastern Oriental region. It is not clear if the attack on this base has failed or was aborted.
Ukraine has made drone attacks against various air bases throughout Russia on Sunday, all targets, except one in Ukrayka, were confirmed as hit, according to the Ukrainian security service. Some of the bases are thousands of kilometers from the Russian border with Ukraine. Ukraine security service. Illustration: Renée Rigdon and Lou Robinson, CNN
It is these huge distances from the Ukraine border that probably led Russia to be complacent with the protection of the places.
Its most valuable aircraft on Behaya’s base were regularly parked in the sight of everyone in the aerodrome, clearly visible in satellite images available to the public, including Google Maps.
Moscow probably believed that the distance was enough to keep the planes safe from Ukrainian attacks.
Russia maintains air superiority over Ukraine, and although Kiev’s allies have provided Ukraine some long-range missile systems, including American manufacturing Atacms and British-Francês Storm Shadows, none of them have to attack so deeply within Russia.
Ukraine has used drones against targets within Russia, including Moscow, but the low speed to which they move makes it relatively easy for Russian air defenses to reach them.
This is where the true audacity of the attack lies: instead of trying to fly drones from the border, Ukraine has managed to smuggle them to the places it intended to reach and launch them from there.
The image shows drones allegedly used by Ukraine in its coordinated Russian air bases. Obtained by CNN
Insufficient Russian Defenses
Radars and Russian air defenses on these bases were not prepared for such a sudden attack and low altitude.
The only effective way to wage such an attack is with heavy machine guns. Russia has been using them against Ukrainian sea drones in the Black Sea.
But these machine guns were not available or were not sufficiently placed in the air bases targeted by Ukraine on Sunday, most likely because Russia simply did not predict this type of attack.
CNN International has managed to check and locate photographs and videos of the scenes, confirming its location near the foundations.
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed in a statement that the attacks, which called “terrorist attacks”, were launched from the close of the aerodromes.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said 117 drones were used in the operation.
According to SBU, the drones were taken to Russia by their agents. At one point, probably already in the country, the drones have been hidden inside mobile wooden barracks.
Photographs obtained by CNN show the hidden drones under the metal ceilings of the barracks, fitted in isolation cavities.
The drones hidden in wooden barracks. Obtained by CNN
These wooden booths were then placed in trucks and driven to places near the bases.
Ukraine did not disclose how it was exactly able to put vehicles in the vicinity of important military targets without being detected, but the media Russian media suggest that it was relatively simple.
The Baza and Astra, two Russian Telegram channels, report that the trucks were bought by a Ukrainian living in Russia and then paid a driver quartet to take them where he needed.
Neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian authorities commented on these reports, but Russian state news agency RIA reported that Irkutsk authorities were looking for a man suspected of being involved in the attack. Your name coincides with the name referred to by the Russian channels.
The Ukrainian security service stated that the agents involved in the operation were already safely in Ukraine at the time the attacks began. Zelensky said they worked in various regions of Russia, covering three time zones.
A senior source from the Ukraine drone development program told CNN that drivers who piloted the drones were probably not close to where they were released.
“They would probably have installed an internet center that would allow pilots to control them remotely, each quickly launching each FPV (first-person vision drones), reaching each target one by one.”
What we know about the Ukrainian attack with drones. Sources: CNN report, Ukraine security service; Illustration: Lou Robinson, CNN
A “bright operation”
A video of the attack in the Irkutsk region in southeastern Russia, which was shared on social networks and checked by CNN, shows two drones to fly from a truck.
Both are seen to go to Beauty Air Base in the distance, where there was already a dark smoke from a previous attack.
Another video of the same place shows the truck used to transport the drones to burn after what appears to be an explosion designed to self -destruct the truck.
A source stressed that the communication center could be “a simple Russian mobile phone,” which is more difficult to locate than other systems, such as Starlink, which is widely used in Ukraine.
Another informed source on the subject confirmed that the attack was made through Russian telecommunications networks.
When the trucks were in place and the drones ready to leave, the booth ceilings opened and the drones flew toward their targets.
Zelensky said on Sunday that the attack was being prepared for a year, six months and nine days, and praised security services for a “brilliant” operation.
Russian authorities minimized the attack, stating that the attacks were repelled in the regions of Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur, but that “several aircraft pieces” were burned after attacks on the regions of Murmansk and Irkutsk. It was known, however, that the fires were extinguished.
There were no victims, but while the Russian authorities tried to minimize the attack, several renowned Russian military criticized the attacks vehemently.
Rybar, a Russian military man with great visibility, said the attack caused a “tragic loss to the entire Russian air fleet” and was the result of “criminal neglect.”
SBU stated that the attacks caused estimated losses of $ 7 billion and reached 34% of Russia’s Cruise Strategic Cruise Ports on their main air bases – a statement that CNN cannot verify independently.
Ukraine claimed to have destroyed several TU-95 and Tu-22m3 strategic bombers and one of the few A-50’s surveillance planes were left in Russia.
An informed source on the subject also advanced that 27 Tu-95, four Tu-160, two Tu-23m3 and “probably” an A-50 were hit.
The TU-22M3 is the Russian Long-range Missile attack platform that can make isolated attacks, throwing missiles from the Russian airspace, right behind the front lines to be out of reach of the Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire.
Russia had 55 tu-22m3 and 57 Tu-95 jets at its fleet earlier this year, according to the “Military Balance 2025” report of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The Tu-95 joined the Soviet Union Air Force in the 1950s and Russia changed it to launch cruise missiles as TU-22.
Bronk, a Rusi expert, argued that the replacement of some of these planes would be very difficult for Russia, as they have not been produced for decades.
CNN Natasha Bertrand contributed to the report
