“Ukrainian drone strike” hits another Russian airbase a day after attack that damaged two nuclear bombers

Flames today engulfed a Russian air base near the border with Ukraine after a third suspected drone attack in just two days.

Oil tankers at a base near the town of Kursk, about 95 kilometers from the border, caught fire early Tuesday morning and smoke billowed into the air.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown, but it comes just a day after two similar explosions damaged air bases in Saratov and Ryazan, which the Russian Defense Ministry blamed on Ukrainian drones.

These attacks at Engels-2 Airfield and Dyagilevo Air Base damaged two nuclear bombers believed to be attacking Ukraine, killed three ground crew and wounded two others.

Smoke fills the morning sky in Kursk, a Russian city 60 miles from the border with Ukraine, after a suspected attack on an air base there

Video shows flames lighting up the night sky near Kursk after a suspected Ukrainian attack on a Russian air base – the third in two days

Russian military bloggers have suggested that the attacks were carried out using a repurposed Tupolev Tu-141 Strizh – a Soviet Cold War reconnaissance drone – but this has not been confirmed.

The Kursk fire burned about 10 hours after the attack, according to reports suggesting that Ukraine had hit a key fuel supply point.

The inferno covered nearly 5,500 square feet and new teams of firefighters were rushed to the scene, local media said.

Suspected Ukrainian drones also attacked the Belbek military airport in Sevastopol, but were shot down by air defenses, reports said.

Drones also targeted a fuel depot in the Bryansk region but did not cause any major damage, Russian sources said.

Ukraine rarely confirms attacks on Russian territory, but is believed to be behind dozens of explosions at fuel and ammunition depots that supply Russian troops fighting in the east of the country.

Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod – three regions bordering Ukraine that have been used as bases for attacks – have all been hit multiple times.

It has never been confirmed how these attacks were carried out, but some have been attributed to drones.

However, the tactic of using drones to attack Russian airbases directly – as opposed to the facilities that serve them – appears to be new, and Ukraine appears capable of penetrating much further into Russia than previously known .

Footage has emerged of the English and Dyagilevo bases where they were hit, with photos of the latter showing a nuclear-capable Tu-22M3 bomber with its tail damaged.

A Kh-22 missile hangs under its wings, apparently ready for an attack on Ukraine.

Footage from an attack on an air base in the city of Ryazan yesterday shows damage to the rear of a nuclear bomber carrying an underwing cruise missile – intended to attack Ukraine’s power grid (circled).

Additional photos from Ryazan showed a wrecked Russian service car, with the defense ministry saying three crew members were killed and four injured in the attack

It suggests the suspected drone mission stopped at least one of the volleys of missiles Russia has aimed at Ukraine in recent days to knock out power and other vital supplies in an attack believed to have targeted Ukrainian citizens.

Satellite images released last week showed bombers at the English air base equipped with similar missiles, as analysts warned that a “large-scale attack” on Ukraine’s power grid was “imminent.”

This attack killed three people and injured others.

Satellite images also confirmed burn marks next to a Tu-22M bomber.

The other attack took place at Engels Air Base in the Saratov region, where two Tu-95 strategic bombers were reportedly damaged.

The apparent range of Ukrainian drones in Russia has angered pro-war advocates in Moscow, who question air defense capabilities.

Sergei Mardan, a military columnist for the major newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, called for revenge.

“How can we help Kursk? Only with an attack on Kiev,” he said.

Kursk regional governor Roman Starovoyt, an accomplice of Vladimir Putin, said: “An oil tank is on fire due to a drone attack near Kursk airport. There are no injuries. The fire is currently being detected.”

All emergency services are on site at Kursk-Vostochny Airport, which is normally used for both civilian and military aircraft.

There have been no civilian flights from this airfield since the beginning of the war.

Russia claims Ukraine used Soviet Tu-141 reconnaissance drones called Strizh to carry out the attacks.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed the drones were hit by anti-aircraft defenses, but debris fell and caused damage to aircraft on the ground.

Tu-95 bombers (left) and Tu-160 aircraft (right) were photographed last week at the English air base next to long boxes (centre) believed to contain cruise missiles