Satellite images reveal damage to Russian Belaya airbase after Ukrainian drone strikes

Radio Liberty journalists have released satellite imagery showing the consequences of Ukrainian drone strikes on Belaya airbase in Russia’s Irkutsk Oblast on 1 June 2025.

Source: Radio Liberty

Details: Analysis of video and satellite imagery enabled Radio Liberty to independently confirm the destruction of at least 11 Russian aircraft during the Ukrainian Security Service’s Pavutyna (Spider’s Web) operation on 1 June: seven Tu-95 bombers (one possibly damaged), four Tu-22M3 bombers and one An-12 cargo aircraft, not classified as strategic warplane.

At Belaya airbase, Radio Liberty verified the destruction of four Tu-22M3 and three Tu-95 bombers, with one additional Tu-95 likely damaged.

Background:

• On 1 June, the Security Service of Ukraine carried out a special operation codenamed Pavutyna, during which strategic aviation aircraft were targeted at four Russian airfields.
• SSU chief Vasyl Maliuk stated that "in total, 34% of strategic cruise missile carriers at the main Russian airfields were destroyed".
• The SSU officially stated that 41 Russian strategic aircraft, including A-50s, Tu-95s, Tu-22M3s and Tu-160s, had been struck by first-person view drones. The estimated cost of the damaged warplanes is over US$7 billion.

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