NATO says Ukrainian drone operation damaged 40 Russian aircraft, destroying up to 13

The coordinated drone strikes organised by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) against Russian airfields on Sunday damaged 40 Russian aircraft, at least 10 to 13 of which were completely destroyed, independent news outlet Meduza reported on Wednesday, citing a senior NATO official.

The official said that the destroyed aircraft were “responsible for over 3,000 cruise missiles that have hit critical infrastructure targets or civilian targets in Ukraine since the war began”, according to Meduza.

On Sunday, Ukraine carried out large-scale coordinated drone attacks on Russian strategic aviation airfields across the country. According to preliminary estimates, the operation, codenamed Spider’s Web, caused damage valued at $2 billion (€1.75 billion), a source told the BBC.

Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the SBU, reported that the operation had destroyed 41 Russian aircraft and struck missile carriers in five Russian regions across five time zones, taking out 34% of Russia’s military aircraft and causing an estimated $7 billion of damage.

The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed on Sunday that Ukrainian drone attacks had caused “several units of aviation equipment” in the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions to catch fire, but provided no further detail.