On the night of September 29, long-range drones could have attacked russian Millerovo air base, which is located approximately 200 km from the frontline. In particular, a fire was detected by NASA Firms' monitoring system at and near the airfield, which could have been caused by the strike.
In addition, the site of fire can be seen at some distance from the air base. We can assume that some of the drones were shot down by russian air defense systems or did not reach their targets.
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It is too early to say whether this attack was effective, but we should not rule out the possibility that, russia had the opportunity to take off aircraft that might have been at the airfield because it takes a long for Ukrainian UAVs to reach the target. This is an occasion to recall the need for permission to strike deep into russian territory with ATACMS ballistic missiles. For instance, Defense Express previously analyzed in detail how many ATACMS missiles are needed to wipe out a russian air base.
Regarding the alleged attack on Millerovo air base today, one of the russian sources reported that more than 20 drones attacked it, but all of them were allegedly shot down. The Ministry of Defense of the russian federation gives lower figures: 18 drones within the Rostov region, of which 13 units were detected directly in the Millerovsky District.
In addition, as a number of Ukrainian media have already reported that at night of September 29, some units of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, the Special Operations Forces, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked an arsenal of missiles and ammunition in the Volgograd region. We are talking about Kotluban settlement, where the military unit № 57229-51 is located. The area of the ammunition arsenal is approximately 2.5 square kilometers.
It is reported that more than 120 drones attacked russian territory. The NASAFirms service detects three sites of fire. At the same time, we should not rule out the fact that information may be provided with a delay, and in some cases, despite the presence of visual control, the service does not record fires.
As Defense Express reported russian drone manufacturer Alabuga had produced 6000 Shahed drones one year ahead of schedule, signaling a new phase of war in Ukraine's skies.
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