Ukraine Politician Outlines 4 'Consequences' of Bombing Russian Airfields

Alleged Ukrainian drone strikes on airfields deep inside Russian territory may not seem highly consequential for Russia, but in reality they will have key impacts on the course of the war, according to a Ukrainian politician.

Last Monday, explosions were reported at two airbases inside Russia: the Dyagilevo base in Russia's Ryazan region and the Engels base in the Saratov region. Russia said that three servicemen were killed in the blasts, four others were injured and two aircraft were damaged, according to the Associated Press. Russia blamed the incident on Ukraine, saying that the war-torn country sent drones to attack the airbases and that Russian air defenses were able to shoot them down.

Ukraine has not directly or publicly claimed responsibility for the strikes, but Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak appeared to hint at potential involvement in a tweet posted after the explosions.

"The Earth is round – discovery made by Galileo. Astronomy was not studied in Kremlin, giving preference to court astrologers," Podolyak tweeted. "If it was, they would know: if something is launched into other countries' airspace, sooner or later unknown flying objects will return to departure point."

Ihor Zhdanov, who formerly served as Ukraine's minister of youth and sports, outlined the "consequences" of the alleged Ukrainian air base strikes in an opinion article published Monday by the Kyiv Post.

Zhdanov, a co-founder of the Open Policy Foundation, a national government organization, wrote that though Russia's losses may look "rather insignificant," analyzing the outcome of the strikes will allow people to see "how they will undoubtedly affect the nature, course and results of the Russian-Ukrainian war."

The first consequence, Zhdanov wrote, is that these incidents demonstrated Ukraine's ability to strike deep within Russian territory.

With the Engels base located at least 600 kilometers, or nearly 373 miles, inside Russian territory, Ukraine's alleged strikes last week seem to indicate that Ukraine has obtained weapons with the capability to hit distant targets inside Russia.

Secondly, the air base strikes have decreased the Russian air force's level of combat readiness, Zhdanov wrote. Though Russia said two of its aircraft were damaged last week, Belarusian media outlet Nexta and independent Russian journalism channel Astra Telegram have both reported that two Tu-95 planes were in fact destroyed.

Zhdanov wrote that Russia has a limited number of such planes, so the loss of the two Tu-95s, if true, would be consequential for both countries.

There is also an important psychological impact with strikes such as these, Zhdanov said. He wrote that they show Ukrainian citizens that their country's forces are capable of "preventively punishing an aggressor," something that can be especially significant as Russia carries out waves of missile attacks on Ukraine's civilian and power infrastructure.

"Meanwhile the Russian occupiers have once again clearly realized that it will not be possible to sit out the war somewhere far behind the front line, deep in the rear," Zhdanov wrote. "If you are fighting against Ukraine, be ready to lose your life at any moment."

Lastly, last week's Russian air base explosions demonstrate that Ukraine's defense industry can manufacture equipment that is critical for securing advantages and winning the war, Zhdanov said.

Politico, citing people familiar with the operation, reported last Wednesday that Ukraine used modified Soviet-era drones to strike the airbases.

Newsweek was not able to independently verify this report and reached out to the defense ministries of Russia and Ukraine for confirmation and comment.