Remember when Ukrainian saboteurs blew up a rare plane at an airbase in Moscow?

Ukrainian saboteurs have gotten very good at destroying Russian military equipment stationed behind the frontline. News headlines seem to reveal a new devastating loss once a week, which is why you could be forgiven if you forgot about this particular daring incident.

On September 18th, 2023, the war in Ukraine hit a little closer to home for Vladimir Putin and his government after two planes and a helicopter were destroyed by unknown saboteurs in Moscow Oblast. 

The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine reported that the Investigation Committee of Russia was looking into the sabotage operation and provided a wealth of detail on the incident.  

Unknown saboteurs were able to infiltrate the carefully guarded Chkalovsky Airbase and secretly plant explosives that detonated, damaging one Antonov An-148, a model of which is featured in the image above, and one Ilyushin Il-20M. 

Both aircraft belonged to the 354th Special Purpose Aviation Regiment and the damage to each will not allow for a “quick recovery” according to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence. Featured in the image above is an Il-20M. 

The Warzone's Thomas Newdick noted that the An-148 is a regional jet and was likely used by Russia’s Defense Ministry for executive transport. It was not a major loss to Moscow.

“​​The reported loss of an Il-20M, however, would represent a much more significant blow to the Russian military,” Newdick wrote, adding it was thought Russia only had a dozen of these radar reconnaissance and electronic intelligence (ELINT) aircraft in its fleet.  

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Kirill Naumenko, CC BY-SA 3.0

One Mil MI-28H helicopter was also targeted with explosives by the unknown saboteurs and damaged. Ukraine's Defense Intelligence noted the helicopter was previously involved in shooting down drone attacks over Moscow. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Artem Katranzhi, CC BY-SA 2.0

The tail portion of the MI-28H was damaged by the explosion and another An-148 near the anti-armor attack helicopter received light and minor damage from the explosion. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Vitaly V. Kuzmin, CC BY-SA 4.0

Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence reported in a press release on the attack that it caused a “powerful hysteria” since both the country's 'doomsday' and 'special planes' were stationed based at the airfield. 

Russian authorities at the time were working to figure out the identities of the unknown saboteurs and had also tried to limit the spread of the attack by the area’s local media. 

Although Ukrainian authorities revealed the attack and provided satellite imagery of the airbase prior to the incident, they did not take responsibility for the sabotage operation according to Business Insider's anlysis. 

Business Insider also reported that the incident at Chkalovsky Airbase came on the heels of several other “Ukrainian-associated” attacks on airfields inside of Russia's borders at the time. 

Some of the attacks were carried out by drones and also damaged or destroyed several aircraft the news agency wrote, underscoring gaps in the Kremlin’s air defense network at that time in the conflict.

“Attacks on Russia's airbases have ramped up in recent weeks,” Newsweek wrote in its report on the attack at Chkalovsky Airbase in September 2023. “One such attack late last month destroyed four Russian Il-76 military transport aircraft stationed at an airfield in the western city of Pskov.”

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Vitaly V. Kuzmin, CC BY-SA 4.0

Russian authorities didn't comment on the attack at Chkalovsky Airbase immediately after the incident according to the Kyiv Post, which added at the time that the airfield held a great deal of significance in Russia. 

The Chkalovsky Air Base is one of Russia’s major military airfields and it provides support and other services to several parts of the country’s space program according to the Kyiv Post. 

“It was the airfield from which Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, took off from on a doomed training flight that resulted in his death in March 1968,” the Kyiv Post added. 

Since the incident at Chkalovsky Air Base, Ukraine has increasingly used saboteur attacks behind the frontline to knock out a number of important weapons. The most recent example allegedly occurred in early January 2024.

The Ukrainian Security Service released video footage allegedly showing the destruction of a prized Su-34 bomber by saboteurs 1000 miles or roughly 1600 kilometers behind enemy lines at Shagol Airfield in Chelyabinsk according to The Telegraph.