Russia Gets Airbases Ready For Ukraine And NATO’s Massive Strikes

The Russian MoD is panicking after the drone attacks.

The Russian Defence Ministry is checking military airfields for resistance to massive strikes.

During the exercises, special units of the Russian army practiced the restoration of runways and aircraft parking areas, sources in the department told Izvestia.

According to them, the exercises were held in several regions at once, including in the western and southern strategic directions. Engineer and sapper units joined this. They are sealing the craters and rebuilding the aircraft shelters to protect the aircraft from fragments.

The airfield services have units that must promptly restore the runways, and in the event of a fire, take away aircraft, according to military expert Alexei Leonkov. "Such exercises should be held on a regular basis, as in the case of navy — exercises to improve the survivability of the vessel," he stressed.

According to him, after the beginning of the war against Ukraine, Kyiv regularly attacks Russian airfields with drones, and in the future Russia may face NATO.

"They will try to destroy the airfields with the very first strike. Therefore, the VKS (Russian Aerospace Forces) has alternate airfields, jump airfields. All these facilities should be maintained in good condition," Leonkov stressed.

"According to the experience of the Special Military Operation [the Russian authorities call the attack on Ukraine this name - Ed.], many things can be taken into account: how to protect aircraft from the drones, how to shelter them, how to provide airfields with electronic warfare means," added military expert Vasily Dandykin. He also called for taking into account the military activity of NATO, which probes Russia's capabilities.

In December 2022, Ukrainian drones attacked the airfields of Diaghilevo in the Ryazan region and Engels in the Saratov region, where Russian strategic aviation was located. In August 2023, drones attacked a military airfield in the city of Soltsy, Novgorod Region, and the airbase in Pskov, where several Il-76 military cargo aircraft were damaged.

Also, during the two years of the war, Ukrainian forces launched a number of sensitive strikes on Russian airfields in Crimea, from where Russian bombers launched missiles against Ukrainian cities.