The strategic air base at Olenya is 1,800 kilometers north of Russia’s border to Ukraine. This is the first reported attack inside the Arctic Circle after Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022.
“As a result of the operation of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense near Olenegorsk at the military airfield Olenya at the base of the strategic aviation of the Russian occupiers, a long-range supersonic bomber-missile carrier TU-22M3 was hit,” the intelligence service said according to newspaper Ukrainska Pravda.
Shortly after, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a statement:
“… each destroyed Russian airbase, each destroyed Russian military aircraft – whether on the ground or in the air – means saving Ukrainian lives. Guys, our warriors, I thank you for your precision!”
The drone attack is not confirmed by independent sources, and Russia’s military has so far not detailed more than saying “Russian troops destroyed 81 Ukrainian drones in the air within 24 hours,” information agency Interfax reports. Läs artikel