03.08.2026

On the night of July 30, the aggressor country Russia carried out another large-scale attack on Ukraine. The enemy launched 74 missiles of various types and 284 strike UAVs. In particular, the launches of Kh-101 missiles were carried out by strategic aviation aircraft that took off from the Olenya airfield in the Murmansk region and Ukrainka in the Far East. Is another operation like “Website” possible, when more than 40 aggressor aircraft were destroyed? Will Ukrainian aviation help in the fight against them? How to make enemy aircraft lose the opportunity to take off?

Military expert Pavlo Narozhnyi answered these questions in an exclusive interview with OBOZ.UA. 

– This time, to attack Ukraine, the enemy used strategic aviation, Tu-95MS and Tu-160, which took off from the Olenya and Ukrainka airfields. The first is located about 2 thousand kilometers from Ukraine, the second – 6 thousand kilometers. Do you think that Ukraine can organize something like a new operation “Web” to destroy these enemy strategic aviation assets? 

– It will be impossible to repeat an exact copy of this operation. Why is that? Because in that operation we took advantage of the fact that the enemy was not ready for this type of action. We used FPV drones controlled via 4G. That is, the drones had SIM cards from Russian or Western operators, roaming, local communication, etc. was used. But now the Russians have started to jam the mobile Internet, introduced “white lists” of allowed sites. The Internet is there, but the speed has been reduced to a minimum so that it is impossible to transmit a video signal. That is why repeating an absolutely identical operation “Website” is practically unrealistic from a technical point of view.

But, perhaps, there will be some other operation, which will be implemented by some other methods. Our specialists always approach these issues very creatively. If we get away from “Web”, we can recall that the Crimean Bridge was attacked three times, and all three were different. Once they blew up a truck on the automobile part of the bridge, then an underwater drone was used, which hit the bridge support, and then underwater mining of the supports was used. So, we see that the Ukrainians are constantly changing their approaches.

– It is also interesting that enemy Tu-95MS aircraft flying from the Olenya airfield landed at a transit base in Engels or Diageliv. And this is much closer to the territory of Ukraine than, for example, the Murmansk region – about 500 and 700 kilometers from the border. Is it possible to destroy them here? 

– If or when we have ballistic missiles, then it will be possible to do this.

But here again the question is, what kind of ballistic missiles are they, will they be able to reach Engels? Our manufacturer Fire Point claims that its missile will have a range of 900 kilometers, so we will definitely be able to reach Engels with this missile.

But there is also a question of time and reaction. The Tu-95 is a huge plane. At all bases in the Murmansk region, they are standing in the open air, because building a hangar for such a plane is worth a huge effort. I don’t even know what to compare it to. It may be the size of a football field or even larger. Building an underground shelter for it, where everything will be concreted, without any columns, etc., is practically impossible.

Therefore, let’s imagine the situation: the plane has landed at the Engels airfield, it is being refueled, some refuelers are standing by, etc. And at this moment, our specialists from the missile forces and artillery load the missile, the launcher fires a shot. Fire Point does not disclose the speed of this missile, but let’s imagine that it is approximately the same as that of the Iskander-M, which is three times the speed of sound, that is, about three thousand kilometers per hour. In this case, our missile will fly these 500 kilometers in 3-5 minutes.

The Russians have an early warning system, they will see this launch on long-range radars or through satellite reconnaissance and will understand that a ballistic missile can hit the airfield now. They declare an air alert, and after that the pilots will have three minutes to take off. In fact, this is very little. Moreover, we understand that this is the moment when refueling is taking place.

So, if we have ballistic missiles, I think we can actually hit such planes.

– And what about our aviation, those same F-16s? What role can they play in the plan to destroy Russian strategic aviation aircraft? 

– They can’t. The F-16 is a multi-purpose aircraft that can carry a huge number of different weapons. These can be, for example, cruise missiles. The entire range for the F-16 is more than 500 units of different types of weapons. The only thing they can theoretically shoot down enemy planes with at such a distance where the launch takes place is exclusively with cruise missiles, not in the air, but on the ground. 

There is a European-made Meteor missile, it has a range of 200 kilometers. There is also a similar American AIM-120 missile in a modification up to 200 kilometers. Once our Air Force published a photo of our F-16 with a very similar missile. 

But the Russians know about our missiles at 200 kilometers, and they don’t come within that distance. More precisely, if they come within 200 kilometers of the theoretical launch site, it will only be for such a period of time that they can turn around and escape.

We won’t be able to shoot down a plane in the air. That’s very unlikely. It’s more likely to destroy such planes on the ground. But that’s a very straightforward path, whereas we’re going asymmetrically. How?

For example,  the Tu-95 is an aircraft that was developed back in the 1960s. Yes, since then it has been modernized; new engines and new electronics have been installed, but it is still an outdated aircraft, very ancient. The Russians currently do not have a production facility for engine parts. And these engines for the Tu-95 are a strategic resource, because they no longer produce new ones. That is why old Tu-95s are cannibalized, that is, disassembled, so that those that remain can continue to fly.

Therefore, the best response is to strike the ground, at spare parts warehouses, at planes, even those that are already being dismantled for parts. Recently, there was a case when our drone flew over and hit a Tu-95. Satellite images show that it was hit – its tail fell off, and it still stands broken into two halves. 

The Russians also have Tu-160 aircraft. These are aircraft from the 1980s, much newer, supersonic. But they have one very big vulnerability – this is fuel. They use a special brand of kerosene so that it does not thicken when moving at high speeds at low temperatures. And this type of fuel is produced only at three Russian refineries (Saratov, Orsk and Angarsk Petrochemical Company – Ed.). There are no such productions anywhere else in the world, because this fuel has such a narrow application.

That is, it is necessary to destroy these refineries and fuel depots – and the Tu-160 will remain on the ground. Therefore, the correct answer is not to shoot down Russian planes in the air with missiles, not to hit them with ballistics in the fields and airfields, but to destroy military-industrial complex facilities, destroy logistics, fuel production, fuel transportation, fuel storage. And then these planes simply will not take off.

https://war.obozrevatel.com/ukr/zelenskij-rozpoviv-pro-peremovini-schodo-stvorennya-antibalistichnoi-sistemi-freya.htm