Tatarstan, Russian drone factory, 1,000 km away from Russia-Ukraine border, five Russian Air Force bases—Belaya, Dyagilevo, Ivanovo Severny, Olenya, and Ukrainka again thousands of km inside Russian territory; Moscow apartment again deep inside. How is then distance a protector for Russia?
By Debasish Roy
NEW DELHI: June 25 2025: Ukraine is small and seemingly unprotected. Nothing new in that fact but Russia is big and secure. Right? Well, the experiences that global viewers had in the last few weeks of the drone attacks conducted by Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) shows an entirely different picture.
Russia has chosen to hide its bomber fleet on an island near Iceland. What is the guarantee that Ukrainian operators will not set up drone pads near that island or even launch munition carrying drones from fishing boats?
So far, the air bases attacked by Ukraine’s SBU:
Belaya Air Base in Siberia’s Irkutsk – More than 4,500 km from the border
Olenya Air Base in the Arctic region’s Murmansk – More than 2,000 km from the border
Ivanovo Severny Air Base in Ivanovo – More than 800 km from the border
Dyagilevo Air Base in Ryazan – More than 520 km from the border
Ukrainka Air Base in Russia’s Far East- More than 8,000 km from the border
