Ukrainian drone attacks: Brave David against Goliath attacks on Russia

Ukrainian drone attacks: Brave David against Goliath attacks on Russia

ukraines Large drone attacks on Russian military bases, which are thousands of kilometers behind the front lines, represent the youngest in a number of bold missions of the Ukrainian armed forces against their big neighbor.

The operation, which was more than a year and six months in the planning, included drones that were smuggled in Russian territory and hidden on trucks in mobile wood containers, according to an informant of the SBU, the Ukrainian domestic secret service.

damage and effects of the attacks

According to estimates, the attacks caused damage of around $ 7 billion and met 34 % of Russia's strategic cruisers on his main air -air bases. This offensive shows that Ukraine still has the ability to put Russia under pressure, even if Moscow has its own attacks and Operations intensified.

supportive drone operations

Analysts described the drone attack by Ukraine to the bomber bases as the most important since the beginning of the war. Over 40 aircraft were hit during the operation, according to a source of the SBU, including TU-95 and TU-22M3 strategic bombers and one of the few remaining A-50 reconnaissance planes in Russia.

The TU-22M3 is Russia's long-distance platform for rocket attacks that can carry out stealth attacks by firing rockets from the Russian airspace behind the front lines in order to stay outside the reach of Ukrainian air defense. Russia had 55 TU-22M3 and 57 TU-95 in its aircraft fleet at the beginning of the year, according to the "Military Balance 2025" of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

episodes for the Russian Air Force

The loss of these bombers, which can transport the most difficult and powerful marching missiles, means that Russia will have to rely more on drones for attacks on Ukraine in the future. This will also be a significant distraction for President Vladimir Putin, says Carl Schuster, a former director of the operating department of the Joint Intelligence Center of the US Pacific Command, which is now active as a military analyst in Hawaii

The sinking of the Moskva

Another significant success for Ukraine was the Moskva , the pride of the Russian Black Sea fleet, in the early months of the war. The Moskva was one of the Moscow military, which at this time 50 days in Putins Invasion

In April 2022, the operational command south of Ukraine claimed that the Moscow had started to drop after a goal through Ukrainian Neptune Sea target. Russia, on the other hand, explained that a fire broke out on the cruiser, which led to the explosion of ammunition on board and the ship was badly damaged, so that the crew had to be evacuated.

further defeats of the Black Sea fleet

Analysts argue that this loss has not only hit the Russian Navy, but also the national pride, comparable to a loss of a US Navy battleship during the Second World War or the loss of an aircraft carrier today. A number of other marine defeats for Moscow Black Sea fleet followed. At the beginning of 2024 Six seedornen used, which used a Russian steering ship Ivanovets to sink.

Night shots published by the Ukrainians show how Russians fire on the drones, while they put on the Ivanovets before at least two drones hit the side of the ship, put it out of action and cause massive explosions.

damage to the Crimean Bridge

Additional attacks also led to significant damage to the Crimean Bridge, a strategically important traffic junction. These attacks were part of a more comprehensive strategy of Ukraine to further disturb the Russian military operations and to disorganize control over important transport routes.