Satellite Images Show Multiple Su‑34 Losses After Ukraine’s Neptune Strike on Russian Airbase
A Ukrainian Neptune missile strike on Russia’s Borisoglebsk airbase in Voronezh Oblast has left multiple Su‑34M aircraft destroyed or damaged, according to Ukraine’s Navy and new satellite imagery, exposing how many Russian jets still sit in the open without hardened shelters deep inside national territory.
New satellite images of Russia’s Borisoglebsk airbase indicate that a Ukrainian missile strike has knocked out several Su‑34‑class aircraft on the ground, turning a key strike hub into a liability for Moscow.
Ukraine’s Navy said that during the night of 14–15 October it used its domestically produced Neptune coastal missile system to hit the Borisoglebsk military airfield in Russia’s Voronezh region. In its first statement, the Navy claimed six Su‑34M aircraft were destroyed. It later revised that wording, saying six aircraft were “struck,” a change that suggests a mix of destroyed and damaged jets rather than confirmed total losses for each airframe.
High‑resolution commercial satellite imagery of the base, analyzed by the open aviation account AviVector, shows at least three Russian Su‑34M aircraft destroyed by the Neptune cruise missile strikes on Borisoglebsk airbase. Other imagery‑based assessments say at least four Su‑34s were likely destroyed. Analysts caution that the pictures do not capture every corner of the facility, but they do confirm that several aircraft were hit while parked on exposed aprons.
Those images highlight that nearly five years into the war, many of Russia’s front‑line combat aircraft still appear to be parked in the open, without hardened concrete shelters to shield them from precision strikes. That basic layout makes each successful missile attack on an airbase potentially very costly in aircraft and crews.
Reaction from Russian military‑linked channels has been guarded. The prominent aviation‑focused account Fighterbomber, which frequently comments on Russian air force operations, did not directly engage with Ukraine’s initial claim that six Su‑34Ms were destroyed. Instead, it spoke about the need to move aircraft at least 400 kilometers from the front line, to build proper concrete shelters, and to remove or conceal wreckage quickly so it does not appear in future satellite imagery. That focus on survivability and cleanup is being read by observers as an indirect acknowledgment that Borisoglebsk suffered real losses.
For Ukraine, the strike shows that the adapted Neptune system, originally designed as an anti‑ship missile, can hit fixed military targets far inside Russian territory. It also suggests Kyiv is trying to raise the cost of long‑range bombing raids by targeting the aircraft that support them at their home bases.
The broader impact will depend on what Russia does next. Signs that the air force is rapidly building hardened shelters at other airfields, dispersing Su‑34s to more distant bases, or reducing sorties from exposed locations would indicate that the Borisoglebsk strike has forced a rethink of how and where Russia parks some of its most important jets.
Sources
- OSINT