FAFO, Mr. Putin!

Shot taken by Ukrainian drone.

Red State has the details:

The targets were:

Olenya Air Base in the Murmansk Region
Belaya Air Base in the Irkutsk Region
Ivanovo Air Base in the Ivanovo Region
Dyagilevo Air Base in the Ryazan Region
Severomorsk (Main Administrative Base of the Russian Northern Fleet) in the Murmansk Region

The airbases are the home to Russia’s fleet of Tu-22, Tu-95M, and Tu-160 nuclear-capable strategic bombers as well as AS-50 battle management aircraft. They were located from the Siberian Far East to the Arctic Circle. The furthest target, Belaya Airbase in Irkutsk, is over 2700 miles from Ukraine.

Reports indicate that at least 41 aircraft were hit. The unofficial tally indicates 24 Tu-22, 8 Tu-95MS, and 5 Tu-16 were hit. MiG-31 fighters and Il-76 transports were also hit. To put this in context, open-source data says Russia’s bomber inventory is about 58 Tu-22, 47 Tu-95MS, and 15 Tu-160. These planes are the ones used to launch most of the missiles fired at Ukrainian cities.

By any standard, this was a devastating attack. Nearly half of the Tu-22, a quarter of the Tu-95MS, and a third of the Tu-160 fleet, representing just over 30 percent of Russia’s strategic bomber force, were damaged or destroyed in one attack. When you consider the operational readiness rate, Russia probably has less than 50 aircraft capable of flying…on the bright side, they have plenty of aircraft to cannibalize for parts. The Tu-22 and Tu-95MS production lines are closed, and the Tu-160 production is one, yes, one per year. For all intents and purposes, this represents a permanent decrease in the size of the Russian strategic bomber fleet.

RTWT

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Don’t blame Donald Trump or the USA. We had nothing to do with it. We didn’t even know it was going to happen! as the Independent reports.

Donald Trump was not given a heads-up about Ukraine’s unprecedented drone strikes that took out a huge fleet of Russian planes on Sunday, according to reports.

Ukraine’s “large-scale” drone attack launched deep into Russian territory wiped out 40 military bombers and targeted five bases, Ukrainian security sources told CBS News.

The attack took over a year and a half to plan and was personally supervised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the sources added.

Ukrainian officials did not give the Trump administration advance notice of the attack, both Ukrainian and U.S. officials told Axios.