Russian bombers evacuated as Ukrainian drones strike Arctic base
For four days, the Murmansk region in Russia has been attacked by Ukrainian drones. So far, the drones have been successfully shot down. However, fearing a strike, the Russians scrambled and evacuated five bombers from the Olenia base, which Ukraine targeted. For the first time since December 2022, there is not a single aircraft at the base.
5:41 PM EDT, August 21, 2024
"Ukrainian drones attacked the Murmansk region on Wednesday," said regional governor Andrei Chibis. According to Russian military officials, the drones managed to fly all the way to the village of Vysokie in the north of the region, near the Olenia military airport, where Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers are stationed.
"Ukraine attacked the Murmansk region using drones for the first time. This is the longest range record in the entire war," announced The Moscow Times.
Russians evacuated their bombers
The air raid, during which Ukrainian drones attacked targets beyond the Arctic Circle for the first time, set a record range since the beginning of the war: the distance from the border to the village of Vysokie is 1,150 miles.
Previous record – 1,118 miles – was set by the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the end of May, attacking Orsk in the Orenburg region, where an early warning radar station for nuclear attack (Voronezh radar) is located. Previously, the furthest target of Ukrainian drones was a facility in the city of Salavat in the Republic of Bashkortostan, located 1,031 miles from the Russian-Ukrainian border.
Flying Fox was heading towards the bombers
According to the Mash channel, the drone that attacked the Murmansk region could have come from the Chernihiv region in Ukraine. Residents of the region had previously seen the exact same model of drone - UAV A22 Flying Fox.
Due to the air raids ongoing for four days at airports in Murmansk and Apatity, restrictions on the use of airspace were introduced.
The drones have been shot down so far, but fearing for their aircraft, which they have used to carry out missile attacks on Ukraine, the Russians scrambled five strategic bombers Tu-95 and evacuated them to the "Engels-2" base.
"The reason for the massive relocation of strategic bombers was the attack by Ukrainian drones," writes Obozrevatel.
Attack on military base
"In fact, considering the indirect route, the drone covered about 1,243 miles, and this was possible thanks to 'huge gaps' in the Russian air defense system," writes the Russian channel "Military Informer." "Such a target could fly such a long distance thanks to a well-designed route, taking into account maps of sparse air defense positions and the operation of their radar," claims the channel.
The Olenia base was successfully attacked at the end of July. As previously reported, two Tu-22M strategic bombers were destroyed. The airport is located 1,118 miles from Ukraine beyond the Arctic Circle in the Murmansk region.
