Ukraine drones target Russian bomber factory

On January 8, Ukrainian drones traveled at least 400 miles to hit a sprawling fuel depot near the Russian Air Force’s Engels bomber base in Saratov, southern Russia. Six days later, drones hit the same fuel depot againand lit a fire that continued to burn days later.

Now Ukraine’s long-range unmanned aerial vehicles are going after the factory that builds and maintains many of the Russian Air Force’s bombers: the Kazan Aircraft Plant in Kazan, about 700 miles from the front line in Ukraine. The night of Sunday, Russian Telegram users reported drones overhead – and an explosion and fire at a fuel depot near the factory.

“Lighting up the night sky in Russia’s Kazan region, Russian aircraft factories are burning for the production and repair of the long-range strategic bombers that regularly rain missiles on the people of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian Center for Strategic Communications celebrated as flames rose and smoke billowed in Kazan.

The strike on Sunday night was just part of a wider wave of raids. As Kazan exploded, Ukrainian munitions — drones or missiles — hit a helicopter factory in the city as well as a fuel depot in Bryansk Oblast, in southern Russia just 25 miles from Ukraine. “And there will be more,” promised the Center for Strategic Communication.

It is unclear what types of drone were involved in the attack on Kazan. Ukraine has developed a staggering array of long-range UAVs, including some based on modified A-22 sport aircraft. The earlier Saratov raids may have involved the smaller PD-2, Beaver, Liutyi, and UJ-22—all of which are between six and 10 feet long, propeller-driven, presumably GPS-guided, and capable of flying hundreds of miles with explosive payloads .

It is notable that so many of Ukraine’s recent deep attacks have targeted fuel depots. The raids are a sort of follow-up to the ongoing strike campaign targeting the Russian oil industry – particularly its refineries. Oil not only fuels the Russian war machine, it is also a main source of income for the Russian state.

Blowing up the fuel tanks attached to Russian bomber bases – and the industrial areas connected to the bomber bases – probably cannot stop the Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities, but that can make the bombardment more expensive for Moscow.

And blowing up fuel tanks and factories is easier than blowing up the bombers themselves. The bombers – 120 Tupolev Tu-22M, Tu-95 and Tu-160 – fly high and fast, launch their cruise missiles hundreds of miles from Ukrainian cities and, when on the ground, are spread across potentially dozens of bases.

In contrast, the tanks and factories are large and immobile. Easy targets for Ukraine’s drones.

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