On the night of May 19, Ukrainian drones successfully attacked a russian airfield in Kushchyovskaya in the Krasnodar region of russia. It is located 250 km from the front line, and combat aviation, including Su-34 bombers, is now based there.
High-quality satellite images published by RFE/RL now show the results of this attack. Ukrainian UAVs managed to damage a Su-34 frontline bomber, as well as Su-27 and Su-30 fighters. The photo was taken on May 23, four days after the strike, meaning that the enemy could have already removed some of the damaged vehicles.
Read more: Ukrainian Forces Hit russian Su-27 Aircraft at the Kushchyovskaya Airfield
But additional attention can be given to the aircraft marked as Su-27 because it has the standard coloring in the colors of the Russian Knights aerobatic team.
This group indeed operates the Su-27, including both four-seater Su-27P and two-seater Su-27UB aircraft. However, the Russian Knights received eight Su-30SM aircraft in 2016.
Subsequently, starting from 2019, pilots have begun transitioning to the Su-35, which bears a similar appearance to the Su-27P on satellite images.
Therefore, we leave the question of identification in parentheses until additional information becomes available. However, the mere presence of one aircraft from the aerobatic team at the combat airbase is extremely intriguing. And it may suggest that not everything is as idealized with the russian fighter jets as they try to portray.
And another fact that in russia, not everything is going well in the so-called "Aerospace Forces" is that this strike turned out to be effective and cost the enemy at least three aircraft. Moreover, it was not unexpected for them.
Because, on April 27th, Ukrainian UAVs struck the Kushchyovskaya airbase. And despite the existing experience, on May 19th, another batch of Ukrainian drones attacked the same airbase, and they did so more than successfully.
So, despite the threat, the enemy failed to cover it with air defense systems. And that's already a very interesting potential marker. Especially against the backdrop of the destruction of russian S-400s in the frontline zone by ATACMS.
Read more: Ukrainian UAVs Hit russian Voronezh-DM Over-the-Horizon Radar of 6,000 km Observation Range
