“This is big news: (Mr.) Putin is really angry, the atmosphere in the Kremlin is “very hot” right now, to the point that it can be felt” – said a representative of the Ukrainian intelligence agency.
NW: Putin angry when Su-57 was destroyed
Newsweek (NW, USA) on June 12 quoted Mr. Andriy Yusov – spokesman for the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service (HUR) as saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “very angry” about the attack by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on a Russian airport.
In this attack, two of Russia’s extremely advanced 5th generation Su-57 stealth fighters were said to have been hit.
CNN (USA) quoted initial information provided by HUR as saying that a Su-57 was attacked on a Russian runway in Astrakhan, nearly 600km from the front line of battle. However, in the next update, HUR said that up to two Su-57s were damaged.
Clarifying its statement in a Telegram post, HUR included satellite photos and said: “Images taken of the Su-57 on June 7 show that the aircraft was intact, but on June 8 (the time of the Ukrainian attack), craters from explosions and fire damage appeared.”
Satellite images show Su-57 fighters at Akhtubinsk base before and after the Ukrainian attack
On June 9, according to Newsweek, one of Russia’s influential military Telegram channels, Fighterbomber, confirmed that a Ukrainian drone had indeed attacked the Akhtubinsk airport the day before, and that the Su-57 was “damaged by shrapnel.” However, the channel did not specify the number of aircraft damaged and whether the damage could be repaired.
On June 10, Maxar Technology released additional high-quality satellite images of the Akhtubinsk airport, showing the extent of damage to a Su-57 after the Ukrainian attack. In the photo, it can be seen that besides the damaged Su-57, there are still other aircraft parked in the surrounding open space.
Justin Bronk, a senior researcher at RUSI, a British think tank, said that if the Su-57 were seriously damaged, it would be “one of the most remarkable successes” for Ukraine’s attack drones. Repairing advanced aircraft like the Su-57 would cost much more money and time than usual.
According to the expert, Ukraine seems to be focusing on the goal of forcing the Russian air force to abandon bases located several hundred kilometers from Russian territory, or forcing Moscow to mobilize “a large number” of air defense systems to protect them.