Watch the moment Ukrainian drones tear into Russia’s airfields, destroying 15 aircraft and causing $1bn in losses
Five airfields, 15 aircraft wiped out, $1bn in losses: Ukraine’s Alpha unit hits Russia deep in the rear
Ukraine’s security services say long-range drone strikes have damaged or destroyed 15 Russian military aircraft at five airfields over the past year, causing losses estimated at more than $1 billion.
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Ukraine’s elite Alpha special operations unit has used long-range drones to strike five Russian military airfields, destroying or disabling 15 aircraft and inflicting losses estimated at more than $1 billion, according to Ukrainian security officials.
In a statement released alongside dramatic video footage, the Security Service of Ukraine said the strikes were carried out over the past year against bases located deep inside Russian territory, well beyond the reach of traditional battlefield weapons.
The footage, shared by the SBU, shows aircraft burning on the tarmac as explosions ripple across airfields once considered untouchable. The agency said the attacks targeted aircraft used to launch missile and guided bomb strikes on Ukrainian cities.
According to the SBU, the losses include 11 fighter jets and bombers, among them Su-30SMs, Su-34s, Su-27s, Su-24s and MiG-31s. Three helicopters were also hit, including Mi-28, Mi-26 and Mi-8 models, along with one An-26 transport aircraft. Officials said the aircraft were either destroyed outright or damaged beyond operational use.
The damage did not stop with aircraft. Ammunition depots and fuel storage facilities at the targeted airfields were also set ablaze, compounding the losses and grounding aviation activity at several locations.
“The enemy is used to feeling safe in the deep rear,” the SBU said. “For Alpha, distance has long ceased to matter.”
Ukrainian officials say the strikes have reduced Russia’s ability to generate air sorties from those bases, directly affecting its capacity to carry out air attacks against Ukrainian infrastructure and front-line positions.
The airfield raids form part of a wider Ukrainian drone campaign in 2025, which the SBU says has also targeted Russian air defence systems, radar installations and key energy infrastructure. In January, Ukrainian drones were reported to have struck the Tamannaftegaz oil terminal in Russia’s Krasnodar Territory.
For Moscow, the message is uncomfortable but increasingly unavoidable. Even hundreds of kilometres from the front line, nowhere with a runway can safely assume it is out of reach.
Russia has not publicly confirmed the scale of the losses described by Ukrainian officials.