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Russia may be camouflaging strategic bombers as Ukraine ups its attacks on Moscow's airbases and funnels resources into developing new weapons.
New satellite images indicate Russia could be camouflaging its Tu-95 Bears, military publication The War Zone reported on Tuesday. New paintwork could be intended to confuse the targeting and navigation systems on cruise missiles, according to the publication.
Some open-source analysis had previously suggested Russia was camouflaging its warships based in the Black Sea, although Newsweek could not independently verify this. The Russian Defense Ministry has been contacted for comment via email.
The ongoing war has driven technological innovation in Ukraine's military, not least in drone warfare. It has also seen the deployment of Kyiv's new Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles, developed just ahead of all-out war in the country. Ukraine is believed to have used Neptune missiles to sink Russia's Black Sea flagship, the Mosvka, back in April 2022.
But reports have indicated Ukraine may be adapting the anti-ship missile and producing a land-attack version. A Kyiv official has teased this idea in recent days.
Ukraine said on August 23 it had "completely destroyed" a Russian S-400 air defense system in western Crimea, along with several missiles, and had killed or injured Russian personnel. Kyiv's military intelligence agency, the GUR, then published a video on its social media networks showing a large explosion and a dense cloud of smoke.
The weapon used in the strike in Crimea was a "new, completely modern" missile that had worked "flawlessly," Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said later.
Ukraine used a modified version of its Neptune anti-ship cruise missile to strike the air defense system in Cape Tarkhankut, an anonymous Ukrainian defense official told The War Zone. Last week's strike in Crimea "was 100 percent carried out by a modified Neptune," the unnamed official added.
Russia's Defense Ministry has suggested Ukraine has made use of Neptune missiles in recent days, saying on Tuesday that its air defenses had intercepted a Neptune missile in an unspecified location.
Russian air bases have increasingly become noticeable targets for Ukraine, including facilities where Moscow houses its strategic bombers. Earlier this month, a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle took out at least one of Russia's Tu-22M3 supersonic bombers at Russia's Soltsy airbase, in the country's Novgorod region. Kyiv has previously said the Tu-22M3 launches Kh-22 cruise missiles at Ukrainian territory.
On Wednesday, Ukraine's military intelligence agency told Ukrainian media that four Russian Il-76 military transport aircraft based at the western city of Pskov had been destroyed by drones. Four aircraft cannot be repaired, a spokesperson for Ukraine's GUR told Ukrainska Pravda, adding another two jets were damaged.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more