Posted on 06/02/2025 5:22:26 AM PDT by karpov
Ukraine’s unprecedented drone strikes on Russian air force bases weaken Moscow’s ability to wage war on its smaller neighbor and undermine its capacity to threaten more distant rivals such as the U.S.—a shift with potentially far-reaching geostrategic implications.
A sizable portion of the fleet Moscow uses to launch guided-missile attacks on Ukraine—and would rely on to strike adversaries in the event of a nuclear war—was damaged or destroyed in the coordinated attacks.
Russia no longer produces the decades-old Tupolev planes, meaning it has lost a cornerstone of its ability to project military power beyond its borders. Newer Russian planes are more modern and agile but lack vital characteristics of the destroyed bombers, most significantly their range and the quantity of munitions they can carry. The attack also apparently destroyed a rare Antonov plane Russia uses for airborne command-and-control, another capability vital to modern warfare.
Of more than 100 Tupolev bombers that Russia is known to have, Ukraine said it had damaged or destroyed more than 40. A full assessment will take time, but open-source intelligence analysts counted at least 14 damaged aircraft using satellite images and video posted online. It is unclear how many of the Tu-22s and Tu-95s were operational before the strikes.
Russia confirmed some losses at the air bases, saying it repelled part of what it called a terrorist attack. It offered no evidence of repelling the strikes.
Lt. Gen. Vasyl Maliuk, head of Ukraine’s main security and intelligence agency, the SBU, said Monday that the order to destroy the warplanes had come directly from President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The enemy bombed our country from these planes almost every night, and today actually felt that ‘payback is inevitable,’ ” Maliuk said.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
And the Russian strategic bomber incursions over Alaskan airspace have stopped. I wonder why.
Now think how it will affect the current and future arms treaties and why do you think it won’t happen in the US.
I hope Hegsgeth is paying very close attention to what just happened.
L
The Neocons will do anything to keep this war going. It’s also related to why the WSJ has been so negative on Trump lately.
I read a story about a month ago that talked about how Russia had moved their bombers elsewhere after Ukrainians went for the air base before. Could be they didn’t destroy what they though they did.
“A sizable portion of the fleet Moscow uses to launch guided-missile attacks on Ukraine”
Right there is the take away that some are missing.
I don’t doubt that Putin will retaliate. He lacks the wisdom to see the destruction he’s brought to his own country.
My God that should have been obvious when the Wagner army he sponsored actually invaded Russia.
Exactly. Putin started this massacre.
The Ukraine attacks were deep in Russia as well as near Moscow.
That’s another reason the Russians thought the planes were safe.
The incursions have stopped because of Trump. Trump has had it with POS Putin.
The WSJ is liberal.
Yawn...
“It’s a new kind of war, George. A new war for a new century.” - Breaker Morant
I belive I read they moved them to Kapustin Yar.
Because in America we possess air defense systems that actually work and are not obsolete.
The bombers destroyed are obsolete beyond attacking Ukraine of other adjacent Russian neighbors.
"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/52098
The open-source intelligence (OSINT) analyst MT Anderson posted commercial satellite images of the remote Russian armed forces air base located in eastern Siberia on X on Monday, May 5 that showed the presence of ten Tupolev Tu-95 (NATO: Bear). Also located in the base were several Ilyushin Il-76 and Antonov An-26 transport aircraft, along with large numbers of other aircraft including Tupolev Tu-22 supersonic bombers, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-31 Kinzhal capable aircraft and Sukhoi Su-27 fighter aircraft.
Yup. i can read the make and model through the flames.
What won't happen in the US?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.