UK intelligence has analysed Ukraine’s recent strike on the Marinovka airfield in Russia’s Volgograd Oblast.

Source: UK Defence Intelligence update dated 1 July on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda

Details: The update states that at least two Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers were almost certainly destroyed in the drone attack, with another two possibly destroyed or damaged, according to unconfirmed reports.

The Marinovka airfield is located over 270 km from the Ukrainian border and about 440 km from the current line of contact.

The airfield is used daily by Russia for combat operations and also serves as a backup facility for relocating aircraft when other airfields are under threat. Su-34 aircraft were moved to Marinovka from the Morozovsk airfield after a Ukrainian drone strike in August 2024.

Quote: "Despite these dispersal efforts to protect their aircraft, Russian aviation remains vulnerable to Ukrainian UAS attacks."

That same weekend, Ukraine also successfully struck the Kirovske airfield in occupied Crimea and an artillery ammunition depot in Russia’s Bryansk.

Russia has lost over 30 Su-34 aircraft during the war against Ukraine. In total, more than 135 Russian aircraft have been lost in combat operations, the update concludes.

Background:

• UK intelligence has also recently reported a growing scale of unauthorised military desertions within Russian forces.
• In a previous update, UK intelligence noted that the conflict between Israel and Iran poses challenges to Russia, though the Kremlin also sees some benefits.

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