Ukraine conflict: Kyiv targets Russian bomber bases in massive FPV drone strike

Ukraine claimed more than a third of Russia's strategic cruise missile carrier force, including Tu-95MS bombers (pictured), was damaged in a massive FPV drone strike conducted over multiple bases on 1 June. (Janes/Sam Wise)

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) targeted the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) on 1 June, destroying multiple strategic bomber aircraft in a massive first-person view (FPV) drone strike on multiple airfields.

The SBU announced the “special operation” against the Long-Range Aviation (LRA) bases deep inside the Russian Federation, claiming 34% of the VKS strategic cruise missile carrier force was struck, resulting in damage estimated at approximately USD7 billion. Commenting after the event, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that 117 drones had been used in the strikes, which had been “a year, six months, and nine days” in the planning.

Prior to the attack, Janes World Air Forces noted a VKS cruise missile carrier force of 16 Tupolev Tu-160/M ‘Blackjack', 55 Tu-95MSs, and 58 Tu-22M3 aircraft. In its post-strike analysis, the SBU said it had hit 41 A-50, Tu-95, Tu-22M3, and Tu-160 aircraft across four different LRA airfields.

“According to [the head of the SBU, Lieutenant General] Vasyl Maliuk, the special operation ‘web' took place simultaneously in three time zones and was extremely difficult from a logistical point of view,” the SBU said. “Thus, at first, the SBU transported FPV drones to Russia, and later mobile wooden [containers]. Already on the territory of the Russian Federation, drones were hidden under the roofs of [the containers], [and] placed on trucks. At the right moment, the roofs of the [containers] were remotely opened, and the drones flew to hit certain targets – Russian bombers.”