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| Ukrainian Special Forces Are In Russian Territory For Counter-Invasion with Drones |
Kiev - Ukrainian special forces were deep inside Russian territory and helped direct the counter-invasion by drones on Monday. The counter-invasion of Kiev targeted two Russian military bases, where two nuclear bombers were reportedly damaged in the attacks. The role of the Kiev special forces was revealed by a senior official from President Volodymyr Zelensky's inner circle. He spoke on condition of anonymity to ABC News, Wednesday (7/12/2022).
The United States (US), Ukraine's main backer has no judgment over the drone strike deep inside Russian territory which Zelensky's close people say was the responsibility of the Ukrainian military. "I don't want to speculate about whether Ukraine is responsible for this attack," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
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Jean-Pierre also told journalists Russia was to blame for this conflict. According to him, Russia has run out of Iranian-made drones. Russia has been using the lethal drones, along with missiles, in waves of aerial bombardments against Ukrainian infrastructure for several weeks. But those drones were absent from the recent Russian raids.
A western official said Russia was "anticipating supplies". In light of the Ukrainian drone strike on a military airbase deep inside Russia, Western officials say Russia will now undergo "a significant amount of soul searching" over their ability to maintain significant military assets deep within Russia's borders.
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The official, who characterized the attack as a "terrible security failure" said Russia's military potential was consistently overstated by the West. "I no longer consider a Russian person ten feet tall," the official said.
Meanwhile, a targeted drone strike on Tuesday on a Russian airfield in the Kursk border region, set fire to an oil storage tank. Roman Starovoyt, governor of the Kursk region which borders Ukraine, said on messaging app Telegram that no casualties had been reported after Tuesday's attack, adding that the fire was "localized".
The attack came one day after attacks on two military airfields deep in Russian territory that killed three soldiers and wounded four. Russia blamed Ukraine for the attacks on the Dyagilevo airfield in the Ryazan region and the Engels airfield in the Saratov region. The Saratov region is at least 600 km (370 miles) from the nearest Ukrainian border. Many commentators and analysts argue that this means Ukrainian forces are capable of attacking Moscow.
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Reuters news agency quoted Ukrainian military analyst Serhiy Zgurets as saying that the Dyagilevo and Engels airfields that were attacked on Monday were the only facilities capable of servicing nuclear bombers fully used to launch strikes on Ukraine.
Engels airfield is home to several large Russian nuclear capable strategic bombers; Tu-95 and Tu-160. The New York Times quoted an unnamed senior Ukrainian official on Monday as confirming that Kiev attacked two military bases inside Russia using drones. The Ukrainian government has previously refused to immediately claim responsibility for attacks on Russia or the Crimean region.