A Ukrainian drone attack on Bryansk airport overnight on 5–6 June destroyed a Russian Mi-8 helicopter and damaged a Mi-35, according to Russian news Telegram channel Astra. There are signs of the long-lasting military use of the civilian facility, Militarnyi notes.

Astra reported that the Ukrainian UAVs targeted the territory of the Bryansk International Airport last night located in the village of Oktyabrskoye near Bryansk. As a result of the strike, a Mi-8 helicopter was completely destroyed and its ammunition detonated. A Mi-35 military helicopter was also partially damaged.

After months, Ukraine resumes strikes on Russian fuel depots, targets airfields and military factories (video)

According to Astra’s sources within the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, the strike also damaged the airport’s administrative building and the local rescue service facility. There were no casualties reported. Several dozen workers were evacuated from the nearby Ozon warehouse due to the explosions.

Video footage published by several Telegram channels showed secondary explosions after the initial impact. 

Additionally, last night, the Ukrainian drones struck an oil depot in Engels in Russia’s Saratov Oblast, and targeted Ryazan’s Dyagilevo airbase, and the Progress plant in Michurinsk, Tambov Oblast — a facility involved in producing components for rocket and aviation systems. 

Signs of Bryansk airport’s long-term military use of the airport

Militarnyi cited OSINT analysts from the Oko Hora group, noting that satellite imagery showed two objects — likely helicopters — regularly changing positions at the airfield, indicating long-term deployment and military use of the civil airport.

Militarnyi added that what exactly Russia stored in these airport buildings remains unclear, but the power of the explosions and the detonation observed by eyewitnesses suggest that an ammunition depot may have been present, possibly leading to the destruction and damage to Russian aircraft.

Ukrainian drones struck Bryansk International Airport in Russia overnight on June 6, destroying one combat helicopter and damaging another, according to Russian emergency officials cited by independent media outlet Astra.

The attack was part of a broader Ukrainian operation targeting multiple Russian airfields and military facilities the same evening.

According to Astra's sources within Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry, the attack destroyed a Mi-8 helicopter after its onboard munitions detonated. A second aircraft, a Mi-35 helicopter gunship, was also damaged, though the extent of the damage remains unclear.

The strike reportedly caused additional destruction to airport infrastructure and rescue facilities, but no casualties were reported. Sources within Ukraine's special services confirmed to Astra that Bryansk airport was among the intended targets of the attack.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.  

The Mi-8 is a multipurpose utility aircraft used for troop transport, reconnaissance, and close air support. The Mi-35 is a heavily armed assault helicopter derived from the Soviet-era Mi-24, with dual capability for offensive operations and personnel transport.

Both aircraft types are actively used by Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Hours before Russia launched one of the largest aerial assaults of the war, Ukrainian forces hit strategic bomber bases at Engels and Dyagilevo, along with logistical hubs in Kursk Oblast, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported.

At the Engels-2 air base in Saratov Oblast, located roughly 600 kilometers (370 miles) from Ukraine's front lines, Ukrainian strikes ignited fires at three fuel tanks, causing large-scale explosions.

The Dyagilevo airfield in Ryazan Oblast, home to refueling tankers and fighter escorts for Russia's long-range bomber fleet, was also targeted. Fires and explosions were reported in the vicinity, and Russian air defenses were activated in the region.

Ukraine's expanded drone campaign reflects a growing capacity to strike deep into Russian territory, as Kyiv continues to target the infrastructure Moscow uses to sustain its air war.

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The overnight strikes come just days after the launch of Operation Spiderweb on June 1, in which Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) struck four air bases across Russia and reportedly damaged 41 bomber aircraft.

That operation alone caused over $7 billion in damage and marked a major escalation in Ukraine's ability to project force across the border, according to SBU.

Russia responded to the latest round of Ukrainian strikes by unleashing 452 drones and 45 missiles against cities across Ukraine, killing at least five people and injuring 73 in one of the heaviest barrages of the full-scale invasion.

UPDATE: Russia hits Ukraine with large-scale attack days after Operation Spiderweb

At least four people in Kyiv were killed in the attack, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported. Casualties and damage have also been reported in the western Ukrainian cities of Ternopil and Lutsk.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova

Ukraine has resumed targeting Russian fuel infrastructure after a months-long pause, hitting the Engels oil depot used by strategic bombers, involved in last night’s deadly missile strikes against Ukraine, while drone attacks continued across other military airfields and industrial defense sites in at least six Russian oblasts overnight on 6 June.

Engels fuel depot set ablaze again as Ukraine resumes strikes on oil facilities

Overnight on 6 June, Ukrainian forces launched a drone attack on the Kristall oil depot in the city of Engels, Saratov Oblast, situated more than 600 km from Ukraine. The site supplies fuel to the Engels-2 air base, home to Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic bombers used by Russia to fire cruise missiles on Ukraine.

The attack triggered a massive fire. Telegram channels, including Russian Astra and Ukrainian sources, published videos showing at least three fuel tanks on fire, with large flames and thick smoke rising from the site.

According to Astra, the strike was carried out using drones and caused a fire at the industrial fuel storage facility. NASA’s FIRMS wildfire detection satellites identified thermal anomalies at the facility.

Saratov Oblast Governor Roman Busargin confirmed a fire had broken out at “one of the industrial enterprises in Engels” following a drone strike but did not identify the specific site. Social media users shared additional footage showing the scale of the blaze.

The Engels depot itself had previously been targeted twice in January 2025.

• The first attack, on 8 January, destroyed three fuel tanks of 120,000 cubic meters each and damaged six more, resulting in the loss of an estimated 800,000 tons of fuel.
• A second drone strike occurred on 14 January, while the fire from the first attack was still burning. 

UK intel: Ukraine’s Engels-2 airbase strike marks 2025’s most successful ammo depot attack yet

Explosions and fires at multiple Russian airbases and military areas

Explosions and fires were reported overnight across various Russian locations hosting airfields or military infrastructure, though specific confirmed damage varied by site.

• Bryansk Oblast: Explosions were heard near the airport in Bryansk around midnight. Videos shared on social media captured a large blast, similar to an explosion of surface-to-air missiles, and of secondary blasts following the initial impacts. Astra reported the area was targeted by Ukraine’s defense forces.

• Ryazan Oblast: Local residents reported drone activity and fires in the Dyagilevo district, home to the Dyagilevo air base. A separate fire was also reported in the vicinity of the village of Podvyazye after what was described as a drone attack.

• Tambov Oblast: Telegram channel Supernova+ shared footage from Michurinsk and reported that drones struck the Progress plant there, which manufactures equipment for aircraft and missile control systems, as well as for gas and oil pipeline infrastructure. According to Exilenova, the strike hit the central workshop, leading to a roof collapse. Images showed fire damage and signs of electronic warfare systems operating at the time of the strike.

• Moscow Oblast: Readers of Astra from Naro-Fominsk reported explosions. Russia’s aviation authority Rosaviatsia imposed temporary flight restrictions at Domodedovo and Zhukovsky (Ramenskoye) airports “to ensure civilian flight safety.” Those restrictions were later lifted. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that six drones targeting the Russian capital were destroyed. He later claimed that an additional three drones aimed at the Moscow region were also intercepted.

• Kaluga Oblast: The oblast’s governor stated that five drones were shot down near the border of Obninsk and Borovsky Raion. One drone’s debris fell on a roadway, damaging four vehicles. No serious injuries were reported among the passengers.

Unconfirmed rail sabotage: train derailment in Belgorod 

In Belgorod Oblast, a reserve locomotive derailed in Prokhorovsky Raion. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed the likely cause was the detonation of an explosive device planted under the tracks. No casualties occurred. Train traffic was delayed by approximately 2.5 hours, but all services have since resumed. Track repair work began shortly after the incident. There is no confirmation that this was not an incident.

After the large-scale Ukrainian strike on Russian airfields, Russia was preparing an Iskander missile attack on Kyiv, but Ukraine’s Defense Forces launched a preemptive strike on the launchers in Bryansk Oblast.

Four days after the airfield attack, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in coordination with the Security Service and other units of the Defense Forces, launched a missile strike on a Russian missile unit concentration area.

“The 26th missile brigade of the Russian military, operating from the area of Klintsy in Bryansk Oblast, was preparing to strike one of the Ukrainian population centers—most likely Kyiv,” the Ukrainian report states.

Due to effective intelligence and coordinated action by the Ukrainian units, the intended targets were successfully hit. 

“One Russian missile launcher detonated, and two others were likely damaged,” the statement adds.

The extent of the damage is still being verified.

The General Staff emphasized that the timely and effective combat actions by Ukraine’s defenders helped prevent civilian casualties.

The Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile carries a conventional warhead weighing nearly 800 kilograms.  Ukraine counters the missiles with the US-supplied Patriot system. Russia recently modernized the Iskander-M to make interception more difficult: it can now deploy radar decoys and perform evasive maneuvers during its terminal flight phase. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that “with every new strike, with every delay of diplomacy, Russia is showing the middle finger to the entire world—to all those who still hesitate to increase pressure on it.”