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.

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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.