Ukrainian drones struck several Su-57 fighter jets and an Su-34 fighter-bomber at the Shagol airfield in Russia’s Chelyabinsk Region, Ukraine’s General Staff said on May 1.
Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces carried out the strike on April 25, the General Staff said. Shagol lies approximately 1,700 kilometers (1,056 miles) from the Ukrainian border. “The extent of damage to the aircraft is being assessed,” the General Staff added.
Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, later said the drones hit two Su-57s, one Su-34, and one additional Su aircraft whose variant had not been identified.
The Ukrainian monitoring Telegram channel Exilenova+ published satellite images of the airfield taken on April 17 and April 26, saying they provide visual confirmation that Russian aircraft were damaged.
Russia did not comment. The Defense Ministry reported on April 25 that Ukrainian drones had attacked the Chelyabinsk Region. The regional governor, Alexei Texler, said that day that drones had attempted to strike “one of the infrastructure facilities” — and that there were no casualties or damage.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].
To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.
