Ukraine strikes airfield near Volgograd as Russia presses forward in Donetsk
Ukraine has carried out a night-time drone attack on a Kremlin military airfield near the city of Volgograd and announced the capture of another village in Russia’s Kursk region, as Russian forces pressed on with their advance in the Donetsk region.
Volgograd’s governor, Andrei Bocharov, said the strike took place at about 3am. Residents reported a series of explosions. Several hours later, ammunition continued to detonate as a vast carpet of black smoke engulfed the area.
Ukraine’s SBU security service said it carried out the remote raid against the Marinovka airbase, about 45 miles (70km) west of Volgograd, near the city of Kalach-na-Donu.
The base is home to about 30 Su-34 and Su-35 fighter jets. The planes carry out regular bombing runs against Ukrainian positions on the frontline about 280 miles away, the SBU told the Kyiv Independent newspaper. It is unclear how many jets were damaged or destroyed.
One Russian witness filming the destruction suggested the airfield had been wiped out. “It’s a serious tragedy, folks. This is serious stuff. It’s all fucking on fire. And it’s fucking smoke. It’s all fucking exploding. That’s it,” he said as detonations continued.
