Ukrainian military man who arranged drone attacks on Russian airfields identified

A Russian court issued a warrant in absentia for the arrest of the commander of the 383rd separate regiment of remotely controlled aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhiy Burdenyuk. The Russian Investigative Committee believes that Burdenyuk arranged attacks on military airfields in at least three regions of Russia.

The drone attacks that Burdenyuk allegedly organised caused both human losses and significant damage to Russian aviation. A criminal case against Burdenyuk was filed on the basis of materials collected by military counterintelligence officers of the FSB and the Russian Ministry of Defence.

According to the investigation, since February 2002, Colonel Burdenyuk, together with unidentified individuals from the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has been organising crimes against peace and security of mankind. The Russian Investigative Committee considers him involved in attacks on three military airfields in Kaluga, Ryazan and Saratov regions.

According to investigators, on October 7, 2022, a UJ-22 Airborne drone, manufactured by Ukrjet, attacked the parking lot of Tu-22M3 long-range supersonic bombers at the Shaikovka military airfield in the Kaluga region. No damage was caused.

Two subsequent attacks — on December 5, 2022 on Diaghilevo and December 26 on the Engels airfield — caused significant damage. The Russian Defence Ministry reported that several people were killed and several military airplanes were damaged as a result of those attacks.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine used Soviet Tu-141 Strizh (Swift) jet drones to attack the above-mentioned airfields. The drones were designed as aerial reconnaissance vehicles in the USSR in the 1960s. They can fly for distances of over 1,000 kilometres at speeds of over 1,000 kilometres per hour, which is close to supersonic speed. After the collapse of the USSR in 1992, the 383rd regiment of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft of the Soviet army came under the jurisdiction of Ukraine.