Drone Strikes Show Putin His Homeland Isn’t Safe
Ukrainians aren’t taking credit for the attacks on Russian air bases, but the message was clear: They are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.
Mad bomber.
Photographer: Maxim Shipenkova/AFP/Getty Images
Reports of significant attacks against two Russian air bases are a new and dangerous twist in the Ukraine war. One of the explosions was at the Engels-1 air base in the Saratov region, the other at Dyagilevo in the Ryazan area — both hundreds of miles inside the Russia-Ukraine border. Several Russians were reportedly killed or wounded, and at least two aircraft damaged. Moscow immediately blamed Ukraine for the strikes, which appear to have been conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles.
While the Kyiv government hasn’t openly taken credit, it hasn’t denied culpability. One adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted: “If something is launched into other countries’ airspace, sooner or later unknown flying objects will return to departure point.” Hardly cryptic.