Ukrainian Strike From Within Russia Destroys Su-27 Fighter at Airbase – Reports

Ukraine personal operating inside Russia have destroyed a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-27UB twin seat heavyweight fighter aircraft at the Armavir airfield in the Krasnodar Krai region, according to a number of reports. Ukrainian government sources have released video footage showing the incident from a first-person perspective, which indicates that the aircraft was destroyed from a very short distance, rather than by drone strike as was previously the case for several high profile Ukrainain attacks launched from within Russia’s borders. The attack occurred less than two months after a successful Ukrainain attacks on major strategic bomber facilities across Russia on June 1 under Operation Spider’s Web, which engaged targets as deep as 4000 kilometres away from Ukrainian borders. The operation was historically unprecedented for a strike on a strategic bomber fleet, or for any kind of drone strike launched from within a hostile country’s borders on major airbases.

Ukraine’s lack of modern air power has forced it to rely heavily on asymmetric means of countering the Russian tactical and strategic combat aviation fleets, including relying heavily on ground based air defence systems and launching drone and missile attacks on bases hosting Russian military aircraft. The sustaining of these attacks has reflected poorly on the state of Russia’s internal security, and mirrors similar successes by Ukrainain intelligence in assassinating high profile figures in major Russian cities, ranging from prominent pro-government philosophers to senior military officials. Although the Su-27UB is an ageing Cold War era fighter that is fast being phased out of service, making it a relatively low value target, its destruction highlights the continued vulnerability of Russian air bases and other high profile targets not only to external attacks from the air, but also to strikes by operatives on the ground.