As both sides in the war in Ukraine continue their campaigns of long-range drone strikes, the Ukrainian government’s internal security agency has released a collection of direct strikes against Russian air bases. The video, published by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), records drone strikes against Russian military aircraft by its special forces unit, the “Alpha Group”, also known as Special Operations Center “A”.
“The enemy is used to feeling safe in the depths of the rear. But for the special forces of “Alpha,” the distance has long ceased to be important, “wrote the SBU in a post accompanying the video on social media.
The footage shows several Russian aircraft on target, from the perspective of the attacking drones. It appears that most, if not all, of these strikes have previously been called for, and some have previously appeared in video form. But the end result is certainly impressive, I presume all of the target aircraft were damaged or destroyed — which is not clear from these videos.
An-26 under attack, apparently at Kirovskoye Air Base. It appears to have been damaged beyond repair. SBU screencap
Russian Navy Su-30SM under attack, apparently at Saky Air Base. SBU screencap
The SBU claims the total value of the damage was more than $1 billion, although it is unclear how this was calculated, especially since some of the airframes in question are decades old and no longer in production. It is also good that the SBU figure includes the damage caused to the ammunition and fuel stores at the airports in question.
Regardless, the 15 aircraft declared targets by the SBU appear to include:
From what is seen, the An-26 appears to have been damaged beyond repair, while one Su-24 appears to have had at least its tail section damaged; available satellite images may show a destroyed Su-24, but the quality of the imagery means that it cannot be determined with certainty.
A MiG-31, armed with R-73 missiles, under attack, apparently at Belbek Air Base. SBU screencap
These planes were aimed at five different airports, the SBU stated, without revealing their exact locations.
However, based on an open-source analysis, it appears that the bases targeted included Belbek, Kirovskoye, Saky, and Simferopol, all in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Su-24 under attack, apparently also at Saky Air Base. SBU screencap
The growing threat of such attacks on air bases has prompted Russia to build new hardened aircraft shelters and begin additional construction to help protect aircraft from drone strikes and other indirect fire. This is part of a wider push by the Russian military to improve physical defenses at various airports following the launch of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The airport raids highlighted in the video are part of a wider Ukrainian drone campaign that took place last year, in which the SBU also targeted Russian air defense systems, radar installations, and critical energy infrastructure.
As far as air defense systems are concerned, the SBU claims to have destroyed about $4 billion worth of Russian equipment last year. These included S-300, S-350, and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, as well as advanced radar systems such as Nebo-M, Podlet, and Protivnik-GE.
In 2025, Ukraine also carried out the spectacular Operation Spiderweb, a large-scale attack by Ukrainian drones against air bases across Russia in June. This targeted Moscow’s fleet of strategic bombers and saw a reported 117 drones launched against at least four airports.
Also notable is the fact that Ukraine’s specific campaign against Russian airports is something that was brought up by US President Donald Trump in a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, last summer. The timing of that call suggests that Operation Spiderweb led to that discussion.
A lot of people are reposting this Trump Truth Social post as if it’s recent (in part because Ukraine just released another video of it hitting parked Russian warplanes), but it’s actually from last summer. pic.twitter.com/8jodT8bm7H
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) January 29, 2026
Ukraine’s ability to strike high-value Russian targets at considerable range has been enhanced by the addition of long-range cruise missiles, as well as an expanding inventory of attack drones, both large and small.
Meanwhile, SBU is continuing its long-range drone attacks.
During the night of January 13, the security agency joined forces with the Ukrainian Navy to attack a drone production facility in Taganrog, where several production halls appear to have been destroyed, based on satellite analysis.
Ukrainian Defenders destroyed several warehouses of the Atlant Aero plant in Taganrog, Russia. Combat drones and their parts were produced there.
Glory! pic.twitter.com/P6RcfpXtbl
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) January 16, 2026
The facility in question, the Atlant Aero factory, is responsible, among others, for the production of Russia’s Molniya ammunition, which is widely used in Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces reportedly hit a Russian drone factory in the city of Taganrog this evening, setting it on fire.
Multiple explosions have been reported at the Atlant drone company, a manufacturer of the Molniya series attack drones. pic.twitter.com/yr3SA3b7gV
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) January 13, 2026
Drones being used to strike enemy facilities that produce drones is very indicative of the path the war has taken, when it comes to the increasing use and diversity of unmanned systems on all fronts.
For its part, Russia employed a BM-35 munition to attack what some observers claimed was a Ukrainian F-16 fighter at Kanatove Air Base in the Kirovohrad region of Ukraine, on 26 January.
This is not the first time a Russian drone attack has claimed a mock-up of a Ukrainian aircraft, but once again it shows the potential vulnerability of airports to these types of attacks.
Notably, also, the BM-35 drone used in the strike is reported to use satellite connectivity through Starlink, which allows operators to control it in real time over long distances.
The SBU’s latest ‘greatest hits’ compilation highlights how drone strikes on Russian military aircraft are one of its top priorities and one we will surely see targeted again in the coming months.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com