Fresh large-scale attack by Russia ‘imminent’ as high activity spotted at key airbase

Russia is amassing bombers and cruise missiles for an “imminent large-scale attack “, analysts claim.

Satellite images provided by US-based company Maxar Technologies shows a massive build-up of Russian aircraft at the Engels-2 airport, which lies around 700km (435 miles) from the Ukrainian border inside Russia.

The aircraft include nearly two dozen long-range Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers – two of Russia’s flagship cruise-missile delivering aircraft.

The amount of aircraft on the tarmac is unusual and could indicate a looming attack, experts believe.

Military analyst Arda Mevlutoğlu told German publication Spiegel: “The unusually high number of bombers on the tarmac is an indication of an increase in operations, if not an imminent large-scale attack.”

Beside the long-distance bombers sit a number of fuel tankers and ammunition boxes.

There are also a number of wheel loaders, which are used to transport the X-55 and X-101 cruise missiles – which have a range of 2,500km and are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Russia has been using cruise missiles to attack Ukrainian targets from Russian soil – which keeps their launchers out of reach of Ukraine’s anti-aircraft defences.

The looming attack comes after a report analysed Russia’s embarrassing performance since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Kyiv’s crafty soldiers have repeatedly fooled Vladimir Putin’s troops into wasting precious resources since February.

On one occasion, Ukrainian troops printed huge pictures of blown-up aircraft hangars on to massive sheets to camouflage their airbases.

A Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) analysis claims Russian troops have also been duped into wasting their priceless stores of ammunition on fake targets, including dummy US-built Himars rocket launchers..

They also have a nasty habit of taking themselves out of the battle with friendly fire.

Vladimir Putin’s forces have been navigating their surroundings using out-of-date maps and military targets, making it simple for the Ukrainian army to deceive them.

On one occasion, Kyiv’s troops printed pictures of destroyed airbase hangars on to large sheets and draped them over their fighter jets as camouflage.

Russian bombers looking down from the skies would see that the target had already been taken care of and move on, The Times reports.

Stumped as to how Ukrainian pilots could fly with their hangars destroyed, Russia wondered whether they had moved their planes underground into elaborate subterranean airbases.

The report claims there are a number of reasons for Russia’s dismal performance, including issues with top-down command and troops making the same mistakes over and again.

But friendly fire has been one of the biggest problems for the Kremlin since the start of the invasion, the report adds.

Russian artillery has hit friendly targets, with air-defence measures designed to defend Russian pilots in the skies interfering with their own planes.

The report explains: “Fratricide has been a widespread problem for the Russian forces during their invasion of Ukraine.”