Report
The Twitter report states that the two bases are “much further inside Russia than in previous similar explosions: Engels is more than 600 km away from the territory controlled by Ukraine”. According to London experts, it hosts more than 30 bombers and is western Russia’s main long-range aviation (LRA) base. These planes launch conventional cruise missiles at Ukraine and support Russia’s nuclear deterrent. The report predicts that the LRA will temporarily move the bombers to other bases and that the Russian chain of command will try to punish the officers responsible for the accident. The Guardian suggests Ukraine has developed drones “with an astonishing range of a thousand kilometers”. If this is true, Kiev can control much of European Russia and Russia’s ability to launch cruise missiles safely “is under threat.”
Can Kiev hit Moscow?
Russian social media commentators said Ukraine could strike Moscow if it could strike that far. Ukrainian military analyst Serhiy Zgurets said the affected airbases were the only ones in Russia that could fully service bombers used to strike Ukraine. Ukrainian sources told the New York Times that Kiev attacked Russian airports. The NYT quotes an anonymous senior Ukrainian official. Ukraine droned two Russian military bases. At least one drone attack was directed by special forces near the base from Ukrainian territory. Thus, two deep-into-Russian attacks, unprecedented since the invasion of Ukraine. Moscow faltered. He retaliated with more missiles.
