Ukrainian long-range drones have likely struck the maintenance and operations facility of a Russian military airfield where fighter jets were undergoing repairs.

Dnipro Osint geospatial intelligence project reported on this.

On the night of December 24, a group of Ukrainian drones attacked a Russian military airfield in the Rostov region, located 5 km northwest of the town of Millerovo.

The garrison’s military released footage of the attack repulsed by small arms, showing explosions on the airfield. The footage was used to geolocate the approximate point of the UAV strike.

A technical and operational facility that performs maintenance and routine repairs on aircraft based at the airfield is located in the designated area.

It is reported that the Russian 31st Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Russian Aerospace Forces, equipped with Su-30SM and Su-35 fighter jets, is stationed at the Millerovo airbase. Tactical aviation takes off from the base to participate in combat operations against Ukraine.

Destroying or long-term incapacitation of military airfields is not an easy task and is often impossible. Therefore, targeting maintenance and logistics facilities on its territory is an effective tactic.

Serious damage to airfield technical and operational facilities can complicate preparations for Russian aviation flights and temporarily reduce its activity on the battlefield.

This is not the first time that Ukrainian operators of long-range UAVs have used this tactic.

In August of this year, drones struck the hangars of the maintenance facility at the Russian air base Borisoglebsk in the Voronezh region.

At that time, the Defense Forces attacked simultaneously the Borisoglebsk and Baltimor airfields in the Voronezh region and the Savasleyka airbase in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported shooting down 117 drones and four tactical missiles over Russian territory.

A few days earlier, Ukrainian drones attacked one of Russia’s largest military training grounds in the Rostov region.