As Putin hits Ukraine with biggest air attack, Kyiv strikes Russian airbases & hits planes again

Hours after Russia launched the biggest aerial attack of the war, Ukraine on Monday struck Russia’s warplanes yet again.

Earlier in the day, Ukraine also struck a unit that makes critical components for missiles and drones that Russia uses to attack Ukraine.

These are the latest Ukrainian attacks on Russian air power and critical infrastructure that followed Russian aerial attack involving 479 drones and 20 missiles on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

WATCH | Ukraine strikes Russian missile manufacturing plant

In recent weeks, even as Russia and Ukraine are engaged in direct talks, both sides have ramped up attacks. While Russia has bombed the length and breadth of Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones on a near-daily basis, Ukraine has struck Russian airbases and other critical infrastructure, such as sites part of the military-industrial complex and missile launchers.

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Ukraine strikes Russian war planes — again

Ukraine on Monday said that its drones attacked Russia’s Savasleyka airbase and damage two Russian fighter planes. The two planes damaged included a MiG-31K and a Sukhoi Su-30/34.

In a statement, the Ukrainian General Staff said that the special forces struck the Savasleyka base that Russia has used to launch attacks on Ukraine with MiG-31K fighter planes and ‘Kinzhal’ missiles.

As per the preliminary information, two fighter planes, likely a MiG-31 and Su-30/34, were damaged, the statement said.

The attack on MiG and Sukhoi came a little over a week after Ukraine attacked at least five Russian airbases with 117 drones and destroyed nearly a third of Russian long-range bomber and surveillance aircraft fleets.

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Earlier in the day, Ukraine said it struck manufacturing unit of a private defence company, JSC VNIIR-Progress, in Cheboksary in Chuvashia region that makes critical components for Russian missiles Iskander and Kalibr and Iranian suicide drone Shahed — a mainstay of Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine.

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Earlier on Friday, Ukraine struck Engels airfield in Russia that housed bomber aircraft and the Dyagilevo airbase near Moscow that housed refuelling and escort aircraft. Ukraine also attacked an oil depot in Saratov that day. In another recent attack, Ukraine targeted a chemical plant in Russia’s Tula region.

Despite such attacks on critical installations, Russian forces’ advance has picked up pace in recent months. In May, Russia gained 196 square miles of Ukrainian territory compared to 146 square miles in April and 93 square miles in March, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Despite the successes of Ukrainian aerial attacks, ground forces remain stretched against numerically superior Russian forces. While Ukraine’s principal supporter, the United States, has now essentially withdrawn active support under President Donald Trump , Russian supporters, China, Iran, and North Korea, have doubled down. The result is that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is prolonging the talks to maximise his gains with the idea of pushing into acceptance of his maximalist terms.