RTRS-Security Source Confirms Mass Drone Attack On Russian Airfields

Reuters reports that a Ukrainian security source has confirmed overnight reports from Russia that a massive drone attack was carried out by Ukraine, with the source claiming that the attack focused on four Russian military airfields. The Kremlin claims that 117 drones and four missiles were shot down overnight in what would be the largest Ukrainian aerial assault on Russia of the war to date. Says that the assault aimed to 'undermine Russia's ability to use warplanes to attack Ukraine with gliding bombs,' .

• Forbes: "For more than a year, these glide bombs—each ranging 25 miles or farther with hundreds of pounds of explosives—have been Russia’s most powerful offensive weapons, demolishing Ukrainian defenses ahead of Russian ground assaults." Forbes report that the glide bomb efforts are being diverted from offensive action in Donbas to defensive action in Kursk to halt Ukraine's ongoing incursion (see 'UKRAINE: Zelenskyy-Forces Have Advanced 1-2KM Into Kursk Since Start Of Day' 1203BST and 'RUSSIA: Belgorod Gov. Declares State Of Emergency Amid Ukrainian Bombardment' 1014BST)
• The shift of tactics to Russia firing onto its own territory has presaged the mass evacuations from Kursk. As Forbes notes, "Russian glide bombs, some weighing as much as three tons, are powerful but inaccurate—and pose a serious danger to any civilians around a target...[civilian evacuations are] an ominous development for the Ukrainian invasion corps. With civilians out of the way, the Russians can bomb with abandon."