Satellite imagery of the four Russian airbases that were attacked by Ukraine on Sunday shows how Moscow attempted to use deceptive tactics to protect its strategic bomber fleet.
The images, captured by US commercial satellite imaging company Maxar Technologies and obtained by Business Insider, show that Russia had many of its bombers covered with tires and other objects in the days and weeks before the Ukrainian operation.
Moscow’s forces also painted fake aircraft on the tarmac and used debris to create decoy planes.
Ukraine’s SBU, its internal security agency, said it used small quadcopter drones to hit 41 Russian aircraft in the daring operation, more than 18 months in the making. These aircraft include A-50 airborne early warning and control planes, An-12 transporters, Il-78 refueling tankers, and Tu-95, Tu-22M3, and Tu-160 bombers.
The drones struck airbases across Russia, specifically Belaya in the Irkutsk region, Olenya in the Murmansk region, Dyagilevo in the Ryazan region, and Ivanovo in the Ivanovo region. Ukrainka in the Amur region was reportedly targeted but not hit.
Different types of deception tactics can be seen in satellite imagery of all five sites at various points in time before the attack.
Brady Africk, an open-source intelligence analyst, told BI that since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Moscow’s forces have “added flat decoy aircraft to many air bases and placed tires on top of parked planes in an effort to confuse the targeting systems of Ukrainian weapons.”
Africk said the new satellite imagery shows that Russia also “placed debris on top of flat decoys and positioned solid objects on the ground in the rough shape of aircraft” in what looks like an “apparent attempt to increase the chances of misleading Ukrainian weapons.”
Africk said that Russia’s flat decoy aircraft — in some cases, they are just simple silhouettes; in others, they are painted to look like the planes they’re intended to resemble — aren’t easily seen in the radar-based satellite imagery that the Ukrainian military is understood to use.
“It is clear from the number of aircraft destroyed that Ukraine’s attack on these bases was very successful, despite Russia’s attempts at deception,” he said.
New video footage from the attack shows drones striking aircraft with tires in place.
A ‘devastating blow’ to Russian aviation
The Ukrainian attack was complex and very different from any other deep strike in scope and scale. The SBU said that planning began more than a year and a half ago. The agency smuggled the explosive-packed quadcopter drones into Russia and then sent wooden containers to house them.
In Russia, operatives hid the drones in the containers, which were placed on trucks and driven to positions near the airbases. On Sunday, the tops of the containers were opened remotely, allowing the drones to fly out simultaneously and attack their targets.
The SBU said the attack took out a third of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers, causing more than $7 billion in losses. Lt. Gen. Vasyl Malyuk, the agency’s chief, called it a “devastating blow” to Moscow’s aviation and a “serious slap in the face” to the Kremlin’s power projection.
BI could not independently verify the reported details of the operation, including how many aircraft were damaged or destroyed, and the cost of the losses. Russia’s defense ministry has acknowledged but downplayed the attack.
The bombers that were targeted have been used in devastating strikes against Ukraine throughout the conflict. These aircraft can travel long distances and carry heavy payloads.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 117 first-person view (FPV) drones and as many operators were involved in the massive attack. He said the planning and organization “was perfectly executed” and called it “an absolutely unique operation.”
The attack underscores the increasing role that cheap drones and surprise play in modern warfare. One of the airbases that was hit, Belaya, is over 2,500 miles from the Ukrainian border, demonstrating Kyiv’s long reach and its ability to slip past Russian defenses.
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