Satellite Images Show Aftermath of Strike on Russian Airfield

Satellite images appear to show the aftermath of a reported Ukrainian explosive drone strike on a Russian military air base in the early hours of Saturday.

Kyiv has consistently targeted Russian assets over the border, using domestically-made long-range explosive drones. Throughout the full-scale war, uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) have appeared in the skies above Moscow, and heading toward vital military bases, notably facilities that are home to aircraft used to strike Ukraine.

On Saturday morning, Ukrainian media reported that Kyiv had launched drone strikes on Russia's Millerovo air base, located in the Rostov region and around 25 miles from the border.

In the early hours of Saturday, local time, the regional governor, Vasily Golubev, said that the Russian military was fending off a "massive air attack" in the north of the region.

In a later statement, he said 26 drones had been shot down. Russia's Defense Ministry separately said its air defenses had destroyed 26 aircraft-type UAVs over Rostov, as well as another drone over the Smolensk region, which lies north of Kyiv and east of Belarus.

Data from NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System, or FIRMS, appears to show several blazes in the area of the Millerovo air base. Unverified footage widely circulating on social media seems to show at least one large fire and plumes of black smoke at a site that Newsweek could not confirm was Millerovo.

An influential Russian military blogger, Rybar, said that Moscow's air defenses had intercepted 26 out of 30 Ukrainian drones, with four striking "the infrastructure of a military facility, but without significant damage." The drones damaged an administrative building and two warehouses, the account said, adding that no aircraft were hit.

Satellite images, published by the Russian-language service of the U.S.-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty project on Sunday, purportedly show a damaged hangar at the Millerovo facility.

Mark Krutov, a correspondent with RFE/RL's Russian service, said in a post to X, formerly Twitter, that the satellite images showed indications of fire on a maintenance hangar, an open field, and a fuel depot at the site.

Newsweek could not independently verify the images, and has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Western allies of Kyiv have not given the go-ahead for it to use long-range missiles to attack inside Russia and Ukraine has appealed against these restrictions.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian media reported that the country's SBU security service and its military intelligence agency, the GUR, had attacked Russia's Akhtubinsk military airfield in the Astrakhan region, east of Rostov. A regional official in said air defenses had "successfully repelled" more than 20 incoming aerial drones.

In early June, the GUR said Kyiv's forces had damaged an advanced Russian Su-57 stealth jet at the Akhtubinsk airfield, which is hundreds of miles from front-line fighting in eastern Ukraine. In a later update, GUR spokesperson Andriy Yusov told media that "preliminary information" indicated two Su-57 aircraft may have been damaged.

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