Satellite images show impact of Ukraine’s unprecedented attack on Russian strategic bomber airfields

In an image dated April 24 and composed of satellite photographs from the European company Airbus and the American company Maxar, the Russian Belaya air base in the Siberian region of Irkutsk had more than 100 military aircraft, including bombers, fighters, strategic aircraft, and transport aircraft. A couple of weeks later, the specialized Ukrainian website Defense Express reported, also using satellite data, on the growth of the military complex, particularly with the presence of more Tu95MS and Tu22M3 bombers, feared in Ukraine for their cruise missiles.

Last Sunday, a swarm of Ukrainian truck-launched drone bombs penetrated Belaya, blowing up seven of the aircraft (three Tu95s and four Tu22s). It was the masterstroke of Operation Spider’s Web, launched by the Security Services of Ukraine (SSU). The offensive also hit the airfields of Olenya, Ivanovo, and Dyagilevo.

Satellite photography companies Maxar and Planet Labs have provided EL PAÍS with several images that demonstrate the damage caused by this bold and creative offensive by the Ukrainian army.

Kyiv reported that 41 aircraft had been hit in the operation. Photographs indicate that at least a dozen were completely destroyed. Other aircraft may have suffered minor damage that was difficult to confirm from satellite view.

The Russian state-owned Tupolev Model 95MS is an improved version of the four-engine turboprop bomber with roots in the Soviet Union. It is also a regular feature of the daily bombing raids ordered by Moscow against the front lines and civilian targets in Ukraine.

In a satellite photograph captured on May 22 by Maxar, several of these Tu95MS planes can be seen next to the runway. In images taken last Wednesday, three days after Operation Spider’s Web, four of these aircraft are practically reduced to ashes.

In the southern part of the airfield, located some 4,500 kilometers (almost 2,800 miles) from the Ukrainian border, the photograph captured by Maxar satellites last Wednesday confirms the destruction of up to four Tu22M3 supersonic bombers.

According to information from Defense Express, Belaya has hosted up to 42 of these aircraft, the latest version of the old Tu22, which is well-known to Ukrainians, both uniformed and civilians.

The Olenya air base is located more than 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, to the east of the Finnish border. This airfield is also the origin of many of the aircraft that take off each night to attack targets in Ukraine. On June 1, it was the second-most punished target of Operation Spider’s Web.

According to satellite photographs taken by Planet Labs last Thursday and by Maxar the day before, Ukrainian drones managed to penetrate Olenya and hit at least four Tu95MS bombers. In one of the images, the wreckage of one aircraft can even be seen practically swept away, although the traces of destruction are clear.

A Ukrainian website specializing in verification and analysis of information on civil and military aviation, Avivector, adds another aircraft to the toll from Operation Spider’s Web in Olenya: an Antonov 12 transport aircraft. This model does not appear in the Google Earth history at the location indicated by Avivector, but satellite images do show the remains of a possible explosion at this location.

The Avivector project, using satellite photos from Planet Labs, has also reported the discovery of some traces near the Dyagilevo airfield, some 560 kilometers (350 miles) from the Ukrainian border, due to the possible impact of bomb drones and subsequent fires, although no apparent damage was recorded to the aircraft stationed there.

There is no evidence so far of the impact of the operation on the Ivanovo airfield, some 800 kilometers (500 miles) from Ukraine, through satellite photographs. However, the Ukrainian SSU, responsible for the mission, released videos recorded by the drones themselves as they approached two enormous A50 AWACS reconnaissance aircraft.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition