At least two Russian fighter jets were damaged as a result of a Ukrainian drone strike on the Kushchevskaya airfield in Krasnodar Territory. This was reported by Skhemy, citing satellite images and analysis by aviation expert Anatoliy Khrapchynskyy.
Kushchevskaya is the training base of the Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School, where Russia trained future pilots. However, it is also used to attack Ukrainians now.
On the night of the attack, 19 May, there were Russian Su-type aircraft there.
"We can see a Su-34 with damaged or removed wings, and a clearly damaged Su-27 in another part of the airfield. The Su-30, which has hardly changed its position since 11 May and is located next to the damaged Su-27, could also have been damaged," Khrapchynskyy said.
Planet Labs satellite imagery showed that most of the Russian aircraft had been removed from the airfield after the attack.
- In the spring, the Defence Forces conducted several attacks on the Russian Kushchevskaya airfield. In late April, SBU drones attacked this base and two Russian oil refineries. According to British Ministry of Defence intelligence, the strike destroyed a Russian bomb depot.
- For the second time, the SBU, together with other defence forces, attacked the airfield on 14 May.