Drone Attacks Russian Military Airfield Near Novgorod: Strategic Bombers Blown Up

At least two Tu-22M3s carrying X-22 missiles were destroyed.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that on August 19, “Ukraine attacked with drones” the Soltsy military airfield in the Novgorod region: strategic Russian Tu-22M3 bombers carrying X-22 missiles are based there, obozrevatel.com reports.

Officially, the department of Sergei Shoigu recognized the damage to one aircraft. At the same time, a number of local publics and some media write that at least two units of aircraft were on fire.

At the military airfield “Soltsy”, according to journalist Andriy Tsaplienko, Tu-22M3 strategic bombers are based, which are attacking peaceful Ukrainian cities.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that as a result of the attack at the airfield, a fire broke out in the parking lot of aircraft and even admitted that one of them was damaged.

It is possible that the Russian Defense Ministry has traditionally underestimated its losses. Local publics, as well as some Russian media, reported damage to at least two aircraft.

“At the Soltsy air base in the Novgorod region, two aircraft are on fire, presumably due to a drone strike, according to local publics,” writes Ateo Breaking.

“Eyewitnesses say that after the UAV hit the Soltsy military airfield, at least two planes exploded,” VCHK-OGPU reports.

The public cites data from international services indicating that, after the attack, the surviving Tu-22M3 long-range supersonic missile-carrying bombers are moving to Olenya, Murmansk Region.

In total, according to monitoring groups, there were about 10 Tu-22M3 units at the airfield.

The distance from the borders of Ukraine to Soltsy is at least 675 km.

Footage with smoke rising from a military facility was also published on the internet.