Images reveal aircraft lost in Ukraine's 'Spider's Web' attack on Russia
Images showing the damage inflicted by Ukraine's "extremely complex" drone attack in Russia are beginning to emerge.
Launched on Sunday, local time, Operation Spider's Web saw Ukraine reach deep into Russia and attack some of its most valuable war machines.
Ukraine has said 41 nuclear-capable long-range bombers were hit in the attack, with 34 per cent of Russia's fleet of air missile carriers destroyed — worth about $US7 billion ($10.8 billion).
The Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said a rare A-50 surveillance plane and Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 bombers were damaged in the assault.
These claims are yet to be independently verified and Russia has said it is launching an official investigation into the attacks.
However, drone footage of the operation, verified by Reuters, shows several aircraft were struck in at least two locations.
Satellite company Capella Space also supplied Reuters with an image of one of those airfields, in the Siberian region of Irkutsk, taken on June 2 — the day after Spider's Web.
Captured using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, it appears to show the debris of several aircraft along the runway of the Belaya military air base or parked in protective revetments nearby.
John Ford, a research associate at the California-based James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told Reuters the image showed what appeared to be the remnants of two destroyed Tu-22M3 bombers.
These are long-range, supersonic strategic bombers that have been used to launch missile strikes against Ukraine.
The SAR image, as well as drone footage of the strikes posted on social media, also indicated four strategic Tu-95MS heavy bombers were destroyed or severely damaged, Mr Ford said.
The New York Times said its open-source analysis had also confirmed "at least a dozen" aircraft were damaged, including Tu-95MS bombers.
Open-source intelligence analyst Brady Africk agreed the imagery showed several Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 aircraft had been destroyed and damaged.
However, he told Reuters more imagery was needed to properly assess the impact.
The Telegraph says it has also seen unreleased footage of Ukraine successfully damaging a rare A-50 surveillance plane.
This is an early warning and control aircraft, which helped Moscow locate Ukrainian air defences and coordinate attacks with bombers and fighter jets.
The Russian military reportedly has fewer than 10 — possibly as few as six — in use.
Reuters says it has not yet obtained SAR imagery of the Olenya airfield, a base in Murmansk in Russia's far north-west that was also attacked.
But drone video footage of Olenya base — provided by Ukrainian authorities and verified by Reuters — showed two burning bombers that appeared to be Tu-95MSs and a third, also a Tu-95MS, being hit by a large explosion.
Shortly after the attack, the Russian Defence Ministry said Ukraine had targeted military airfields in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions.
The ministry said their air defences repelled assaults in all the regions except Murmansk and Irkutsk, where several aircraft caught fire.
ABC/Reuters
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