August 20, 2026
Ukrainian forces struck airfields in the southern Russian city of Primorsko-Akhtarsk and Russian-occupied Donetsk overnight on Aug. 20, targeting sites used by Moscow to launch long-range drones, Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR) said on Telegram.
HUR operators struck Russian drone storage and launch sites, as well as two radar systems — the 55Zh6U Nebo-U and 55Zh6UM Niobiy, the statement read.
As a result of the strikes on Donetsk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk airfields, ground components and drone launchers were damaged, and fires broke out at the attack sites, HUR said.
The airfields were attacked as part of Ukraine’s deep-strike operations, HUR said. Ukrainian troops have intensified strikes against military and industrial targets in Russia and the Russian-occupied territories, using domestically produced long-range drones to successfully attack oil refineries, weapons facilities, and other military targets.
Primorsko-Akhtarsk, a city in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai, lies about 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Oblast across the Sea of Azov. Its airfields have served as launch sites for Russian long-range drone attacks since 2022, owing to their strategic proximity to Ukraine.
Russian forces also widely use drone-launch sites in Ukrainian territories occupied since 2014, including the eastern city of Donetsk, a major industrial center with a pre-war population of about 950,000.
Russian forces have also equipped Donetsk International Airport, one of Ukraine’s largest, with drone launchers used to train and launch Shahed, Geran, and Gerbera drones, according to Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces. Satellite imagery from August 2025 showed runway repairs that could allow Russia to expand drone operations from the occupied territory.
In recent weeks, Russian forces have intensified drone and ballistic missile attacks against Ukrainian cities, amid Ukraine’s critical air defense shortage.
Russia launched an attack against Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight on Aug. 20, killing 15 people and injuring nearly 40 others.