Russia Executes Revenge Strikes Against Ukraine For Blowing Up Its Bombers

In one of the war’s largest cross-border exchanges, Ukrainian forces hit airfields, fuel depots and other military targets while Russia launched hundreds of drones and scores of missiles at cities across Ukraine that killed at least three and wounded dozens. The bombardment came just days after Ukraine launched a wide-scale, successful attack on long-range military aviation assets from within Russia. You can read more about that in our coverage here.

Ukraine launched “a preemptive strike” on several Russian military targets ahead of a looming Russian attack, the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff claimed on Facebook. “On the eve of the massive enemy shelling, enemy airfields and other important military facilities were hit.” Russia said its barrage was retaliation for the destruction of its bombers.

A “successful strike was carried out on the Engels airfield in the Saratov region – a place of concentration of enemy aircraft remaining after the operation of the Security Service of Ukraine,” the General Staff added. “The Diaghilev airfield in the Ryazan region, where air tankers and escort fighters are based, which are used to provide missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine, was also hit.”

In addition, “the Defense Forces of Ukraine attacked a number of important enemy facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation and temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine. In particular, the defeat of the logistics point of the 30th motorized rifle regiment of the 72nd motorized rifle division of the Russian Army near the settlement of Kulbaky, Kursk region, was recorded. The results of the defeat are being clarified. Strikes on military infrastructure will continue until the complete cessation of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.”

The Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) downplayed the attacks, saying its “alerted air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 174 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles over Bryansk, Rostov, Saratov, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Oryol, Ryazan, Tula, Belgorod, Tambov, and Moscow regions, and the Republic of Crimea.”

The MoD also claimed that “three Ukrainian Neptune-MD guided missiles were also destroyed over the Black Sea by air defense systems.”

The War Zone cannot independently verify these claims.

Videos and images emerged on social media showing the fuel depot at Engels, about 400 miles from the border, being struck and fully engulfed in flames.

The attack on Dyagilevo, about 300 miles from the border, was also captured on video.

The extent of the destruction at either facility is as yet unclear, though clearly the raging fires at Engels have caused significant damage. Saratov Gov. Roman Busargin acknowledged an attack, but downplayed the damage.

“As a result of the UAV attack, there is a fire at one of the industrial enterprises in Engels,” he claimed on Telegram. “There are no preliminary casualties. All relevant services are working on the scene. Specialists are taking all necessary measures to eliminate the consequences.”

Satellite images we obtained of Dyagilevo appear to show little to no damage to the airfield operating area.

A closer view shows a Tu-95MS Bear-H long-range turboprop bomber and two Il-76 Candid transport aircraft, covered in tires, parked at Dyagilevo. A decoy outline of a Candid can also be seen.

Dyagilevo and Engels have been frequent targets for Ukraine. The former was attacked on June 1 during Ukraine’s audacious Operation Spiderweb that saw several Russian bombers and other aircraft destroyed or damaged by drones launched from trucks by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). While a high-resolution satellite image of Dyagilevo from Planet Labs, taken on June 2 and reviewed by TWZ, showed no obvious signs of damage to any aircraft there, some may have been hit by shrapnel, against which relatively thin-skinned aircraft are notably vulnerable, and this would not necessarily be visible even in higher-resolution imagery. You can see one image taken in the aftermath of Operation Spider Web below.

Engels was attacked three times in the month of December 2022 alone. On at least one of those occasions, the Russian Ministry of Defense said the air base was attacked by Soviet-made jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles modified by Ukraine to carry explosives. Those attacks — which also targeted Dyagilevo Air Base — resulted in damage to at least one Tu-22M3 Backfire-C bomber and apparently also to a Tu-95MS.

More recently, in March, ammunition and weapons storage bunkers at Engels were destroyed in a Ukrainian drone attack there. The attack resulted in a massive fireball and mushroom cloud. You can read our initial story about it here. In January of this year, we reported on a huge fire close to Engels Air Base, caused by what Russian officials described as a “massive” Ukrainian drone attack. The strike was on the strategically important fuel storage tank farm for Engels and the fire raged for several days after, as seen in the image in the embedded tweet below:

In addition to those bases, two Russian helicopters were struck by Ukrainian drones at the Bryansk International Airport, according to the ASTRA news outlet. That airport is located about 75 miles from the border.

“According to ASTRA sources in the Russian Emergencies Ministry, as a result of the hits, an Mi-8 combat helicopter completely burned down, and its combat kit detonated,” ASTRA claimed on Telegram. “An Mi-35 helicopter was also partially damaged. In addition, the airport’s administrative building and the rescue service building were damaged. Several dozen employees were evacuated from the Ozon warehouse, not far from which the airport is located. There were no casualties.”

Video and images from the scene showed a massive explosion creating a large fireball at the airport.

Ukraine also reportedly attacked Tambov Oblast, about 250 miles northeast of the border.

The Supernova+ Telegram channel shared footage from Michurinsk in Tambov Oblast and claimed that drones struck the Progress plant there, which manufactures equipment for aircraft and missile control systems, as well as for gas and oil pipeline infrastructure. The Exilenova Telegram channel stated that the strike hit the central workshop, leading to a roof collapse. Images showed fire damage and signs of electronic warfare systems operating at the time of the strike.

Moscow’s mayor claimed that nine Ukrainian drones were shot down over his city, according to ASTRA.

There were also claims that Ukrainian forces hit a tower once used to extract gas from the Black Sea.

“A new mark of fires at sea has appeared on one of the platforms in the Karkinitsky Gulf near Crimea,” the Crimean Wind monitoring group claimed on Telegram, citing NASA fire data. “Our source reported a battle at sea last night. Let us recall that Russia is placing radar stations, signal repeaters for drones, and reconnaissance equipment on gas production platforms.”

A Neva radar system, storage facilities and a residential module on the tower were destroyed in an attack on May 19, according to Crimean Wind.

Though Ukraine said it carried out attacks designed to blunt a looming Russian attack, Russia was able to hit several regions last night. The Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) claimed the bombardment was retaliation for Operation Spiderweb.

“Last night, in response to the terrorist actions of the Kyiv regime, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a massive strike with long-range air, sea, and ground-based high-precision weapons, as well as with strike UAVs against design bureaus, enterprises producing and repairing weapons and military hardware of Ukraine, attack drone assembly workshops, flight training centres, and AFU weapons and military hardware depots,” the MoD claimed. “The aim of the strike has been achieved. All the assigned targets have been engaged.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Russia struck civilian targets and that at least three people died and dozens were injured in a barrage across the country. Later claims put the death toll at four.

“Russia doesn`t change its stripes – another massive strike on cities and ordinary life,” he stated on X. “They targeted almost all of Ukraine – Volyn, Lviv, Ternopil, Kyiv, Sumy, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, and Chernihiv regions. Some of the missiles and drones were shot down. I thank our warriors for their defense. But unfortunately, not all were intercepted. In total, over 400 drones and more than 40 missiles – including ballistic missiles – were used in today’s attack.”

In Kyiv, three members of the State Emergency Service in Ukraine were killed coming to the rescue of those injured during that attack, officials in Kyiv stated.

Videos of the destruction across Ukraine emerged on social media.

Lutsk, in western Ukraine, was one of those cities hit. The following video shows four Russian Kh-101 cruise missiles striking buildings there.

Another video shows those missiles emitting flares or chaff before striking, a tactic to confuse air defenses. At least five people were injured in an attack using 15 drones and six missiles, according to Mayor Ihor Polishchuk.

The Ukrainian Track and Field Team came under fire in Lutsk.

Ternopil’s military chief Vyacheslav Negoda said Friday’s strike was the “most massive air attack on our region to date,” BBC reported.

The Mayor of Ternopil, Igor Polishchuk, said five people were wounded in the attack while homes, schools and a government facility had been damaged.

The city of Chernihiv was hit by Russian Geran-2 drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles, according to Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, spokesman for the Kherson Regional Military Administration of Ukraine.

“A residential area came under fire: multi-story buildings, private homes, a kindergarten, a local business, infrastructure facilities, and civilians’ vehicles were damaged,” he said. “Due to the strikes on the energy infrastructure, around 40.000 consumers remain without electricity. As of now, four civilians have been reported injured. Three of them received assistance on site, while another man was hospitalized in moderate condition.”

Though Russia lost several Tu-95s during the Operation Spiderweb, it still managed to use some in this latest onslaught. Russia fired 36 Kh-101 cruise missiles from Bears and Tu-160 Blackjack long-range supersonic bombers from the airspace of the Saratov region, over the Caspian Sea, according to the Ukrainian Air Force (UaAF). In addition, the UaAF said six Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles were launched from Kursk and Voronezh regions, one Kh-31P anti-radar missile was fired from a tactical aircraft over the Black Sea and two Iskander-K cruise missiles were launched from the Dzyankoy district of Crimea.

The extent of Russia’s response to Operation Spiderweb is still unknown, however, these attacks show that both sides seem to be locked into an escalation of cross-border bombardment.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com