Ukraine Strikes Russian Military Airbase in Rostov Oblast with Drone Army
In a powerful pre-dawn strike on December 23, Ukrainian drones pummeled the Russian military airbase in Millerovo, Rostov Oblast. The attack sent skies ablaze and explosions rocked the base, as reported by David Axe for Forbes.
The targets could have included several Russian Su-25 ground attack aircraft still operating from the base, which lies around 160 km from the 1,200 km-long frontline of Russia‘s 34-month war against Ukraine. The base also houses a military academy.
The specific target is immaterial. The strategic sense of Ukraine’s deep strikes lies not in destroying particular buildings or equipment, but in constantly raising the cost of Russia’s war through sowing fear, increasing risk, and disrupting operations, according to Serhii Tatarov, founder of Ukrainian analytical group Frontline Insight.
And it’s working. As Ukraine amasses more and more powerful long-range weapons—like U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) rockets, French-British Storm Shadow and SCALP-EG missiles, and a range of domestically produced drones, missiles, and guided munitions—Russia responds by withdrawing its forces farther from the frontline.
Seven months ago, Russia had 305 military aircraft concentrated within 160 km of the Ukrainian frontline. But when the Ukrainian army started striking with ATACMS, each capable of dispersing hundreds of grenade-sized submunitions across a wide area, Russia panicked and started relocating many of its military aircraft to bases beyond the 320 km range of ATACMS.
This year, commercial satellites spotted dozens of Su-25 and Su-30 jets at Millerovo. By fall, the same satellites showed only a handful of Su-25s remaining.
The massive evacuation of military aircraft might have saved precious assets from the recent drone strike. But that doesn’t mean Ukraine’s raids on the Rostov Oblast airbase are futile. The raids force Russia to confront a time-and-distance dilemma.
Operating from bases 640 km from the frontline, not just 160 km, limits the frequency of Russian military aircraft flights in a week, as well as the time they can spend over the front during their less frequent missions. Of course, Russia maintains its aircraft, but they become less useful in the process.
In essence, it’s good math for Ukraine. And the math keeps improving as Ukrainian weapons reach deeper into Russian territory more often. "Ukraine is constantly increasing its ability to raise the cost of war for Russia," Tatarov wrote.
