MIG-31K supersonic interceptor aircraft perform a fly-by over the Kremlin towers on Victory Day, Moscow, 9 May 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE / SERGEI ILNITSKY
Ukrainian drones attacked an air base in central Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region overnight Tuesday where the country’s first MiG regiment equipped with hypersonic Kinzhal missiles is believed to be stationed.
Citing eyewitness accounts, independent news outlet Agentstvo reported on Wednesday that the Savasleyka air base had come under attack from Ukrainian drones in the early hours of the morning. NASA satellite images of the area showed a fire that broke out near the runway at 3.30am local time.
Multiple drones can be seen exploding on impact on the territory of the base in footage of the attack posted by Telegram channel Baza, which also cited local residents who said they heard roughly 10 explosions and that road access to the nearby towns of Kulebaki and Savasleyka had been blocked.
Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin said on Wednesday that Russian air defences had repelled a drone attack in the Kulebaki district, which includes Savasleyka; while the Russian Defence Ministry said that it had intercepted 118 Ukrainian drones overnight nationwide, 11 of which it said were shot down over the Nizhny Novgorod region.
State-affiliated newspaper Izvestia originally reported that the first MiG-31K air regiment equipped with hypersonic Kinzhal missiles was stationed at the Savasleyka airfield shortly before the war began in February 2022.
MiG-31Ks regularly take off from Savasleyka airfield, a good 350 km east of Moscow, to make sorties over Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force said on its Telegram channel last month.
