Aftermath of Ukraine drone strike on Russian airfields shown in satellite imagery
Video released on Wednesday by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) gives more details on the attack, the full extent of which has been unclear.
Ukraine's government said over 40 aircraft were destroyed in an attack on at least four air bases on Monday.
On Wednesday, two United States officials said around 10 planes had been destroyed and a total of around 20 were targeted in the attack.
MORE: Ukraine claims new underwater bomb attack on Russia's Crimean Bridge
The video from the SBU released Wednesday opens with a view of the Olenya air base with multiple drones landing on Tu-95 and Tu-22 bombers and an An-12 transport plane. Explosions from other drones and burning planes can be seen in some of the clips.
At Olenya, according to the defense intelligence firm Janes, a company using open-source information to provide intelligence, four Tu-95 bombers and one An-12 were destroyed. Janes said they based their analysis on video and multiple satellite images.
Analysts with the private intelligence firm MAIAR wrote in a report, provided to ABC News, that no significant damage was visible at the base and that imagery suggested eight A-50s remained in the same position as seen in earlier images.
Two A-50 aircraft are seen at Russia's Ivanovo air base in a video posted by SBU on June 4.
After the appearance of the A-50s in the video from Ukraine's SBU released Wednesday, a series of clips shows drones landing on and around large airplanes at Russia's Dyagilevo air base.
Scorch marks on the ground suggested Russia's Dyagilevo air base was likely targeted in the attack, according to Janes, but there was no visible evidence of damage to aircraft there.
MAIAR's analysts also pointed to ground scarring near areas where aircraft had been stored.
After reviewing the SBU's video, the open-source intelligence analyst Brady Africk told ABC News the video pointed to evidence of damage to at least one Tu-22.
MORE: Following peace talks, Zelenskyy says Ukraine will continue attacks unless Russia halts offensive
According to Africk, a damaged Tu-22 bomber is seen at Russia's Dyagilevo air base.
The video from Ukraine's SBU closes with a series of clips from the Belaya air base, where several smoke plumes and fires are seen as drones target multiple planes.
There, the wreckage of three Tu-95 and four Tu-22 bombers could be seen in a June 4 image from Planet Labs, according to an analysis by Janes.
MAIAR's analysts reached the same conclusion, highlighting evidence in the satellite imagery of ground scarring and burned grass in two areas of the base.
Africk, the open-source intelligence analyst, told ABC News that destroyed Tu-95 and Tu-22 bombers could be seen at the base.
Both types of bombers have been used in long-range strikes on Ukraine, Africk told ABC News.
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USA Today
28 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump, Putin rewrite history in Alaska as Republicans stay obediently silent
An obedient silence from Republicans about the 2016 election was really the only win Trump logged last week while meeting with Putin about Russia's unjust invasion of Ukraine. The news out of Alaska on Aug. 15 focused understandably on how President Donald Trump was once again completely and predictably played on the world stage by Russian President Vladimir Putin. But one element of Trump's international embarrassment drew little notice, as he stood with Putin and again took his side, crying "hoax" while rejecting the bipartisan conclusion supported by America's intelligence agencies that Russia interfered with our 2016 presidential election. We can't grow numb to the notion that Trump consistently picks Putin over America. That long-standing resentment of his about accurate intelligence on his presidential election has mutated into a source of looming injustice as Trump's top aides eagerly seek to help him distort that history to comply with Russia's corrupt narrative. It's not enough anymore for Trump to just deny reality. Now he wants to rewrite it so that officials from then-President Barack Obama's administration who correctly identified the 2016 Russian interference are pursued in criminal investigations just for doing their duties. This inversion of justice and intelligence acts as some kind of balm for Trump's constant state of irritated grievance. And it presents an obligatory abdication of truth for Republicans in Congress who now swallow and regurgitate his lies about 2016. Opinion: Midterms are more than a year away, but Trump is already challenging them Trump's only win around Russia is obedient silence That obedient silence about 2016 from Republicans was really the only win Trump logged in Alaska while meeting with Putin about Russia's unjust invasion of Ukraine. Just consider how Republicans in Congress have contorted on this. 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Rubio may be on board with Trump's push for senseless prosecutions to rewrite our history. But his own Senate history is still around for us to read. His party controlled the Senate in 2020 and he was acting chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, issuing a report in August of that year that cited "irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling" in the 2016 election. Special counsel Robert Mueller, appointed by Trump's first attorney general, issued a 2019 report that confirmed the Russian election interference was driven by Putin's desire for Trump to beat Clinton in 2016. Putin declared that in public in 2018, standing next to Trump in Helsinki, saying he thought a Trump presidency would be better for Russia. That turned out to be true. And it might be the only time we hear Putin speak truth, as Trump tries to erase the history of 2016 and replace it with a fabrication that he and Putin prefer. Follow USA TODAY columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Translating Politics, here.
30 minutes ago
Russia launches largest attack of August on Ukraine after Trump-Zelenskyy meeting
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an hour ago
New Zealand soldier admits attempted espionage in country's first spying conviction
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