"Six Russian warplanes were destroyed and eight others suffered significant damage in a Ukrainian drone strike on a military airbase"

 

Six Russian warplanes were destroyed and eight others suffered significant damage in a Ukrainian drone strike on a military airbase on Friday, Ukrainian officials said. 

The overnight attack targeted the Morozovsk airfield, in Russia's Rostov region, and was a joint-operation conducted by Ukraine's SBU security service and the military, a Kyiv intelligence source told the Reuters news agency. Around 20 personnel are believed to have been killed or injured in the attack. 

The airbase, located around 60 miles from the border, is reported to house tactical bombers, including the Sukhoi Su-24 and Su-34, which Moscow has used to target front-line positions in Ukraine . 

Unverified videos posted on social media appeared to show tracer fire from air defense units and loud explosions close to the airbase overnight on Friday. 

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that a total of 44 drones were "intercepted and destroyed" in the Rostov region on Friday morning. Newsweek has been unable to verify either side's claims. There were also reports of an attack on Engels airbase in the Saratov region, which hosts strategic bombers, and Russia said other drones had been destroyed elsewhere in the country. 

"Last night and on the morning of 5 April 2024, the Russian Armed Forces have foiled attempts by the Kiev regime to launch terrorist attacks using UAVs against the facilities in the Russian Federation,"

Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement. "The air defense units on duty intercepted and destroyed enemy's drones over the territories of Rostov (44 UAVs), Saratov (1 UAV), Kursk (1 UAV), and Belgorod (1 UAV) regions, as well as Krasnodar (6 UAVs) regions." 

Rostov Governor Vasily Golubev claimed on Telegram that eight people were injured in the Morozovsky district when an explosive device in one of the fallen drones detonated around noon. 

He added that a power substation had suffered damage, cutting electricity supplies to around 600 residents, and that the windows in one apartment building had been blown out. Ukraine has stepped up aerial attacks on Russian territory in recent months, targeting military and energy facilities deep behind the front line . 

Oil facilities across a wide area of Russia have been targeted, including in Ryazan and Pervyy Zavod south of Moscow, the Rostov region near the Ukrainian border, as well as Nizhny Novgorod and Kirishi, close to St. Petersburg. Bloomberg said the refineries hit were responsible for 12 percent of Russia's oil refining capacity. 

Ukraine has also had success against Russian warplanes in recent weeks, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claiming in March that 15 military aircraft had been downed in a month. 

Kyiv says it has destroyed Su-34 fighter-bombers, Su-35 fighters and an A-50 airborne early warning and control plane so far this year. In total, Kyiv claims to have shot down 347 Russian planes since the start of the war in February 2022. 

Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian Defense Ministry for comment.