Five Russian jets have been blown up by Ukraine in the past three days, as Britain said drone attacks on targets within Russia were being launched from inside its own territory.
“The Russian Defence Ministry said that a copter-style uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) was responsible for the attack,” the MoD said.
“If true, this adds weight to the assessment that some UAV attacks against Russian military targets are being launched from inside Russian territory.
Several open-source intelligence outlets have since verified the images and on Tuesday, the BBC’s Russian Service released fresh satellite imagery supporting the reports.
“Those drone operations were coordinated by the GUR, and they caused significant losses to the Russian air force,” an unnamed GUR official told The New Voice of Ukraine news website.
The official added that agents cooperating with the intelligence service had destroyed or damaged five Russian aircraft in recent days.
Separately on Tuesday, reports emerged that Gen Sergei Surovikin had been dismissed as the head of the Russian Air Force. »
