Ukraine confirms drone attack on Russian airport near Moscow
Kyiv (IANS). Media reports say Ukrainian authorities have confirmed a drone strike on a Russian military air base near Moscow.
A drone strike at Shaykovka air base in Russia’s Kaluga region damaged a plane, CNN quoted Andrey Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s defense intelligence, as telling local media on Monday.
“At least one aircraft has been damaged in the attack. As is the case in most cases, the Russian regime is trying to hide the true extent of losses and damages,” Yusov said.
Notably, the Shaykovka military air base operates Tupolev Tu-22M3 supersonic long-range bombers, which have been used by Russia to attack Ukraine since the start of the invasion in February 2022.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported on 15 August that aircraft operating from Shaykovka air base had launched four KH-22 air cruise missiles towards Ukraine.
According to Yusov, Monday’s attack was carried out “in coordination with the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine”.
Yusov said, “This specific operation was carried out from within Russian territory.
In many other cases, Ukrainian intelligence carries out various tasks from within Russian territory, he said.
Russian social media blog Baja, which has close links with Russian security services, said a Ukrainian drone had crashed in the area of Shaykovka airport on Monday, reports CNN.
Baja reported that “one aircraft was damaged at the airfield.”
“However, this information has not been officially confirmed,” it added.
Another Russian Telegram channel, Mash, said: “Ukrainian armed forces attempted to attack the Shaykovka military airfield in the Kaluga region.”
Later in the day, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defense systems shot down two invading drones in the capital region, the BBC reported.
Flights were suspended at Moscow’s three largest airports, but the two main international airports at Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo later reopened, according to state media.
