The overnight strike targeted the Savasleyka airfield in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region, which the Kremlin uses to launch MiG-31K jets armed with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, according to the General Staff.
The operation marks the first time in history that fighter jets have been downed by unmanned boats. Initially, reports confirmed the destruction of only one jet, but Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) chief, Kyrylo Budanov, later clarified that two aircraft were hit.
The unprecedented operation allegedly took place on May 2 near the Russian port of Novorossiysk in the Black Sea.
The German and Swedish air forces scrambled NATO jets on Aug. 3 after two Russian jets were detected heading toward Latvian airspace over the Baltic Sea.
A Russian Su-30 fighter jet producer bought back its own equipment previously sold to foreign partners worth over $400 million in 2022 and 2023, the Russian independent outlet Moscow Times reported on May 7, citing customs data.
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