Ukraine’s Drone Assault Disables 10% of Russia’s Strategic Bombers, German General Says
A bold Ukrainian drone offensive has likely disabled around 10% of Russia’s strategic bomber force, according to a senior German military official, marking one of Kyiv’s most impactful long-range strikes since the start of the full-scale invasion.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to Reuters.
Speaking in a podcast reviewed ahead of publication by Reuters, Major General Christian Freuding, head of Germany’s military support coordination for Ukraine, revealed that more than a dozen Russian aircraft were damaged in a series of strikes last weekend.
The targets included TU-95 and TU-22M strategic bombers as well as A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft.
“Our assessment indicates that the Ukrainian operation caused severe damage to these high-value assets, many of which were being prepared for upcoming strikes on Ukrainian territory,” Freuding stated.
According to him, the A-50s, used by Russia in a similar capacity to NATO’s AWACS platforms, were most likely inactive at the time of the attack, but are now completely unusable, even for spare parts. “That is a substantial loss, given the very limited number of such aircraft remaining in the Russian arsenal,” he added.
Despite this, General Freuding cautioned that no immediate reduction in Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine should be expected, as Russia retains roughly 90% of its long-range bomber force.
However, he pointed to secondary effects: “The surviving aircraft will be forced to conduct more frequent sorties, accelerating wear and exposing them to increased operational risk. This strike sends a powerful psychological signal – Russia’s strategic depth is no longer a guarantee of safety.”
Freuding emphasized that Russia’s long-standing assumption of invulnerability across its vast geography has now been “proven wrong,” forcing Moscow to reconsider its security posture far from the frontlines.
As The Gaze reported earlier, Russia may need years to replace long-range bombers destroyed or damaged in a series of Ukrainian drone strikes last weekend, according to Western military experts.