Russia targets Ukrainian military airfield amid F‑16 jet concerns
30 May 2024 08:12
The Russian army conducted nighttime attacks on targets in Ukraine, launching cruise missiles from Tu-95 strategic bombers and Shahed strike drones. The Ukrainian Air Force reported the attack on Thursday morning.
According to social media users, one of the targets was the town of Starokonstantyniv, located in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast in the central part of the country. There is a military airfield there.
War in Ukraine: Russians attacked a military airfield at night
A Ukrainian blogger who goes by the pseudonym Nikolayivsky Vaniok also provided information on this topic. In his post, he explained that the Russians attacked Starokonstantyniv because they suspected that the airfield would be one of the bases where the F-16 jets Ukraine expects to be stationed.
"Starokonstantyniv in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast is our air shield. It is a place that, according to the Russians, will receive new birds (F-16 jets)," posted the blogger on Telegram.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army reported that the Kh-101 cruise missiles were fired from Tu-95 bombers operating from the Engels airfield in Russia's Saratov Oblast.
The Russians also used Iranian-produced Shahed strike drones, launched from Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia and Cape Chauda in occupied Crimea.
General Mykola Oleschuk, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, revealed on Telegram that the Russians used 11 Kh-101 and Kh-55 missiles for the nighttime attacks, along with 32 Shahed drones. The Ukrainian defence managed to shoot down seven missiles and all the drones.
