Video circulated online shows a man affixing devices to a helicopter at a Russian military base about 1,000 kilometers from Ukraine just south of Russia’s border with Latvia, with satellite imagery later confirming at least three aircraft were destroyed, CNN reports.
The video, shot during the daytime, shows a man placing a package that appears to be an explosive inside a helicopter. He checks a device that looks like a timer. In the background, details identified the location as a military base in Russia’s Pskov region, about 35 kilometers south of the Latvian border. A KA-52 attack helicopter is seen in the video.
A Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced a “powerful explosion occurred at the air base of the Russian Armed Forces ‘Veretier’ on the night of October 31,” noting that “as a result of mining, two Russian attack (KA-52) helicopters and one MI-28N were completely destroyed. Two more were significantly damaged.”
Ukranian sabotage squads have been operating in Russia since shortly after the onset of the Kremlin’s invasion in February. They are suspected in the assassination attempt against a prominent Russian political strategist, Aleksandr Durgin, that killed Durgin’s daughter. There have also been reports of sabotage at Russian military bases and rail lines, but far closer to the battle area in Ukraine.