Free Republic

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has received little support from long-time allies Russia and China as President Trump ramps up military pressure against Caracas. Beijing and Moscow, Maduro’s two most powerful allies, have previously provided Venezuela with military equipment, financial aid, and army training in the face of American aggression — but both nations have strayed from their usual tactics as they face their own military and economic woes. While Russia previously deployed two nuclear-capable bombers to Venezuela as a united show of force against the US in 2018, Moscow’s generosity has apparently dried up as it approaches its fourth year...

The base, which hosts strategic bombers, was previously targeted in past long-range attacks.

An audacious Ukrainian drone attack against multiple airbases across Russia is a humiliating security breach for Vladimir Putin that will doubtless trigger a furious response. Pro-Kremlin bloggers have described the drone assault - which Ukrainian security sources said hit more than 40 Russian warplanes - as "Russia's Pearl Harbor" in reference to the Japanese attack against the US in 1941 that prompted Washington to enter the Second World War. The Ukrainian operation - which used small drones smuggled into Russia, hidden in mobile sheds and launched off the back of trucks - also demonstrated how technology and imagination have transformed...

A Ukrainian drone attack has destroyed more than 40 Russian planes deep in Russia's territory, a Ukrainian security official told The Associated Press on Sunday, while Russia pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones a day before the two sides meet for a new round of direct talks in Istanbul. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose operational details, said the attack took over 1 1/2-year to execute and was personally supervised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The operation saw drones transported in containers carried by trucks deep into Russian territory, he said. The drones reportedly hit 41...

Ukrainian forces have wiped out dozens of Russian military aircraft, including nuclear bombers, in a massive drone attack on President Vladimir Putin’s air bases deep inside the country, Kyiv sources are claiming. The mission carried out by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) using first-person-view (FPV) drones hit 41 Russian heavy bombers at four separate airfields thousands of miles from Ukraine, a security source told the Kyiv Independent on Sunday. The drones were reportedly smuggled into the country hidden in trucks. TU-95 “Bear” nuclear bombers, TU-22 “Backfire” fast-attack strike bombers and A-50 “Mainstay” command-and-control jets were among the aircraft that were destroyed...

TWO Russian airfields housing Putin's nuke bombers have reportedly been blitzed in an extraordinary drone strike - wiping out at least 40 aircraft. A Ukrainian security official told Reuters that the SBU conducted a large drone attack on Tu-95 and Tu-22 strategic bombers - which Russia uses to fire long-range missiles at Ukraine. The source did not specify where the drone attack took place, but Ukrainian media said that Olenya airbase - home to Russia’s Tu-95 strategic bombers - had been targeted. The second base under fire is understood to be the Belaya nuclear airbase in eastern Siberia’s Irkutsk region...

Out of the blue (seemingly), the Russians have approached Indonesia and asked for, of all things, basing rights for their strategic bombers. Jane’s, a respected source of strategic intelligence, said, “Jakarta has received an official request from Moscow, seeking permission for Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) aircraft to be based at a facility in Indonesia’s easternmost province… In the request, Russia seeks to base several long-range aircraft at the Manuhua Air Force Base, which shares a runway with the Frans Kaisiepo Airport, documents that have been presented to Jane’s reveal.” The article implied that in recent years, Russian TU-95 Bombers have...

MOSCOW, March 20 (Reuters) - Ukraine struck a major Russian strategic bomber airfield on Thursday with drones, triggering a huge blast and fire about 700 km (435 miles) from the front lines of the war, Russian and Ukrainian officials said. Videos verified by Reuters showed a huge blast spreading out from the airfield, wrecking nearby cottages. Russia's defence ministry said air defences had shot down 132 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions. The base in Engels, which dates back to Soviet times, hosts Russia's Tupolev Tu-160 nuclear-capable heavy strategic bombers, known unofficially as White Swans. Roman Busargin, governor of Saratov, said...

Ukrainian forces backed by Western munitions and technology struck a major Russian strategic bomber airfield on Thursday with drones, 435 miles from the Ukrainian front lines. The strike ignited a massive explosion and sent a huge blast of fire into the air at Engels-2 airbase in Russia. Videos posted by Reuters showed a huge blast spreading out from the airfield and wrecking nearby cottages. Russia reportedly called this the largest drone attack ever.