Ukraine has launched two major kamikaze drone strikes that destroyed one of Putin’s prized nuclear bombers in a spectacular fireball and extensively damaged a train station used to supply supplies to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
New footage of the attack on Soltsy airbase in the Novgorod region shows one of Russia’s nuclear bombers being swallowed up by a huge fireball.
The smoke from the fireball could be seen for miles.
The Russian Defense Ministry tried to downplay the attack, claiming that only one of the bombers was hit:
“The Kiev regime carried out a terrorist attack using a helicopter-type drone at a military airfield in the Novgorod region.
“As a result of the terrorist attack on the airfield site, a fire broke out in the aircraft parking lot, which was immediately extinguished by the fire brigade.”
New footage of the attack on Soltsy airbase in the Novgorod region shows one of Russia’s nuclear bombers being swallowed up by a huge fireball
Smoke from the fireball consuming the supersonic bomber could be seen for miles
“One plane was damaged, but there were no casualties as a result of the terrorist attack,” it said.
But Ukrainian sources contradicted this claim, saying two Tu-22M3 bombers were badly damaged.
In addition, the Institute for War Research said a Russian insider told them the fire damaged at least two planes.
Russian media meanwhile reported that at least six of the supersonic bombers were deployed to Olenya Air Force Base, nearly 1,000 miles away.
The attack on the coveted bomber came a day before an alleged attack by a Ukrainian kamikaze drone on a major train station.
A fire broke out and damaged the roof and facade of Kursk Train Station on a line used to transport arms, troops and ammunition for Vladimir Putin’s illegal war against Ukraine.
The footage showed the moment of the attack, as drone strikes were also reported from Moscow and the Rostov region.
The Russians claimed the drone was jammed by anti-aircraft defenses and debris fell onto the station’s roof, causing a fire.
Five people were injured by broken glass, said regional governor Roman Starovoit.
In the Rostov region, two drones hit a military base in Kamensk, said the region’s governor Vasily Golubev.
Another drone hit Novoshakhtinsk in the same region.
The total damage caused by the strikes was not initially clear.
In Moscow, kamikaze aircraft drones with electronic warfare equipment aimed at the capital were shot down, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said: “During the night an attempt was made to fly a drone from the south to Moscow.”
The footage showed the moment of the attack, as drone strikes were also reported from Moscow and the Rostov region
The total damage caused by Ukraine’s kamikaze attacks was not immediately clear
The Russians claimed the drone was jammed by anti-aircraft defenses and debris fell onto the station’s roof, causing a fire
Ukraine has claimed it will take the war “to the territory of Russia”.
Ukraine plans attacks on Russia’s “symbolic centers and military bases”.
The attack on the Kursk train station came when several drones hit military targets in the Rostov region
“It was stopped by the air defense forces.”
The attacks, both of which were caught on tape, came just weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that “war is returning to Russian territory”.
At the end of July, in one of his nightly addresses to the citizens of Ukraine, he said that the country’s military would target Russia’s “symbolic centers and military bases.”
“This is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process,” he added.
A spokesman for Ukraine’s Air Force added at the time that the Russians were already facing backlash from the invasion.
“All the people who think the war is none of their business – it’s already affecting them,” Yurii Ihnat said in late July.
“There is a certain mood in Russia: something is flying in, and loudly at that.” People no longer talk about peace and tranquility in the Russian interior. They got what they wanted.’