Ukraine's drone attack on Russian warplanes was a serious blow to the
Kremlin's strategic arsenal
[June 03, 2025]
By The Associated Press
A surprise Ukrainian drone attack that targeted several Russian air
bases hosting nuclear-capable strategic bombers was unprecedented in its
scope and sophistication and for the first time reached as far as
Siberia in a heavy blow to the Russian military.
Ukraine said over 40 bombers, or about a third of Russia's strategic
bomber fleet, were damaged or destroyed Sunday, although Moscow said
only several planes were struck. The conflicting claims couldn’t be
independently verified and video of the assault posted on social media
showed only a couple of bombers hit.
But the bold attack demonstrated Ukraine’s capability to hit high-value
targets anywhere in Russia, dealing a humiliating blow to the Kremlin
and inflicting significant losses to Moscow's war machine.
While some Russian military bloggers compared it to another infamous
Sunday surprise attack — that of Japan's strike on the U.S. base at
Pearl Harbor in 1941 — others rejected the analogy, arguing the actual
damage was far less significant than Ukraine claimed.
A look at what warplanes were reported hit:
Russia's bomber assets
For decades, long-range bombers have been part of the Soviet and Russian
nuclear triad that also includes land-based intercontinental ballistic
missiles and atomic-powered submarines carrying ICBMs. The strategic
bombers have flown regular patrols around the globe showcasing Moscow’s
nuclear might.
During the 3-year-old war in Ukraine, Russia has used the heavy planes
to launch waves of cruise missile strikes across the country.
The Tupolev Tu-95, which was code named Bear by NATO, is a four-engine
turboprop plane designed in the 1950s to rival the U.S. B-52 bomber. The
aircraft has an intercontinental range and carries eight long-range
cruise missiles that can be equipped with conventional or nuclear
warheads.
Before Sunday, Russia was estimated to have a fleet of about 60 such
aircraft.
The Tupolev Tu-22M is a twin-engine supersonic bomber designed in the
1970s that was code named Backfire by NATO. It has a shorter range
compared with the Tu-95, but during U.S.-Soviet arms control talks in
the 1970s, Washington insisted on counting them as part of the Soviet
strategic nuclear arsenal because of their capability to reach the U.S.
if refueled in flight.
The latest version of the plane, the Tu-22M3, carries Kh-22 cruise
missiles that fly at more than three times the speed of sound. It dates
to the 1970s, when it was designed by the Soviet Union to strike U.S.
aircraft carriers. It packs a big punch, thanks to its supersonic speed
and ability to carry 630 kilograms (nearly 1,400 pounds) of explosives,
but its outdated guidance system could make it highly inaccurate against
ground targets, raising the possibility of collateral damage.
Some Tu-22Ms were lost in previous Ukrainian attacks, and Russia was
estimated to have between 50 and 60 Tu-22M3s in service before Sunday's
drone strike.
The production of the Tu-95 and the Tu-22M ended after the 1991 collapse
of the USSR, meaning that any lost can't be replaced.
Russia also has another type of strategic nuclear-capable bomber, the
supersonic Tu-160. Fewer than 20 of them are in service, and Russia has
just begun production of its modernized version equipped with new
engines and avionics.
Russia lost a significant part of its heavy bomber fleet in the attack
“with no immediate ability to replace it,” said Douglas Barrie of the
International Institute of Strategic Studies, noting that Moscow's
announced plan to develop the next generation strategic bomber is still
in its early phase.
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Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers fly past a Russian flag at the
Kremlin complex during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military
parade in Moscow, Russia, May 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin,
File)
“Ironically this might give impetus to that program, because if if
you want to keep your bomber fleet up to size, then you’re going to
have to do something at some point,” he said.
The A-50, which Ukrainian officials also said was hit in the
strikes, is an early warning and control aircraft similar to the
U.S. AWACS planes used to coordinate aerial attacks. Only a few such
planes are in service with the Russian military, and any loss badly
dents Russia's military capability.
Relocating bombers and impromptu protection
Repeated Ukrainian strikes on the Engels air base, the main base for
Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers near the Volga River city
of Saratov, prompted Moscow to relocate the bombers to other bases
farther from the conflict.
One of them was Olenya on the Arctic Kola Peninsula, from where
Tu-95s have flown multiple missions to launch cruise missiles at
Ukraine. Several bombers at Olenya apparently were hit by the
Ukrainian drones Sunday, according to analysts studying satellite
images before and after the strike.
Other drones targeted the Belaya air base in the Irkutsk region in
eastern Siberia, destroying a few Tu-22M bombers, according to
analysts.
Ukraine said 41 aircraft — Tu-95s, Tu-22Ms and A-50s — were damaged
or destroyed in the attack that it said was in the works for 18
months in which swarms of drones popped out of containers carried on
trucks that were parked near four air bases.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was briefed on the attack, which
represented a level of sophistication that Washington had not seen
before, a senior defense official said on the condition of anonymity
to discuss sensitive matters.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the attack set several warplanes
ablaze at air bases in the Irkutsk region and the Murmansk region in
the north, but the fires were extinguished.
It said Ukraine also tried to strike two air bases in western
Russia, as well as another one in the Amur region of Russia's Far
East, but those attacks were repelled.
The drone strikes produced an outcry from Russian military bloggers,
who criticized the Defense Ministry for failing to learn from
previous strikes and protect the bombers. Building shelters or
hangars for such large planes is a daunting task, and the military
has tried some impromptu solutions that were criticized as window
dressing.
Satellite images have shown Tu-95s at various air bases covered by
layers of old tires — a measure of dubious efficiency that has drawn
mockery on social media.
___
Associated Press Pentagon correspondent Tara Copp and Emma Burrows
in London contributed.
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