WSJ report on Pskov airbase and other strikes in Russia.
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/ukrainian-drones-strike-deep-inside-russia-hitting-military-airfield-other-targets-e42ca54
It is behind a paywall, so copying it below.
Ukrainian Drones Strike Deep Inside Russia, Hitting Military Airfield, Other Targets
As Kyiv disables four Russian planes, Moscow launches a missile barrage on the Ukrainian capital
Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on military targets across Russia since the war began, disabling four military aircraft in a strike on the Pskov air base, as Moscow unleashed the most sustained missile barrage on the Ukrainian capital in months.
While Ukraine lacks the long-range cruise and ballistic missiles that Russia frequently fires into Ukrainian cities, destroying power stations, hotels, ports and residential buildings, Kyiv has developed an increasingly efficient force of domestically engineered strike drones that can travel several hundred miles into Russia.
Several dozen such drones were launched overnight, heading to the Moscow, Kaluga, Orel, Ryazan, Bryansk and Pskov regions, in addition to Russian-occupied Crimea, according to Russian officials. While most of these drones were shot down, the attack on Pskov, more than 400 miles from Ukraine [wow, bet them Russians did not see that coming], proved successful.
Four Il-76 military transport aircraft were hit on the Pskov airfield, and the city’s civilian airport shut down for the day, according to state news agency TASS. Footage posted by Russian media showed at least two planes ablaze and thick plumes of smoke engulfing the facility. Local media reported that a nearby base of Russian special forces was also struck. There were no reports of casualties. Ukraine hasn’t commented on the drone attacks.
In Kyiv, two security guards at an industrial facility were killed in the Russian barrage, according to the city’s military administration, and a fire erupted in a shopping mall as a result of falling debris. “Kyiv has not suffered from such a powerful attack since the spring,” said the administration’s head, Serhiy Popko. Ukraine’s military said all 28 cruise missiles and 15 out of 16 Shahed drones were shot down by air defenses nationwide.
Lacking modern jet fighters of its own and barred by the U.S. and allies from using Western-provided weapons on Russian soil, Ukraine has turned to drones to dent Russia’s overwhelming superiority in aircraft. Over the past year, Kyiv has likely disabled more Russian planes at their home bases in Russia than in combat, according to military analysts.
On Aug. 19, a Ukrainian drone strike destroyed at least one Russian supersonic Tu-22M3 bomber, the kind of aircraft that is used to fire cruise missiles at Ukraine, in the Soltsy base in northern Russia’s Novgorod region. Two other Russian airfields were attacked by Ukrainian drones in the past two days, according to Russian military bloggers. Last year, Ukrainian drones destroyed Russian strategic bombers in Ryazan and Engels, while a Ukrainian missile strike caused the loss of several jets at the main Russian naval aviation base in Crimea.
Drone attacks on the Moscow region have also become commonplace. While they have resulted in limited direct damage, Russian aviation authorities have been temporarily shutting down air traffic in Moscow airports almost every morning in recent weeks, causing dozens of flights to be diverted to other cities. Another such shutdown occurred Wednesday.
In the city of Bryansk, one of the Ukrainian drones hit the compound of Kremniy El, one of Russia’s largest producers of microelectronics used in missiles and other weapons, causing a fire, according to local media. Hours later, another Ukrainian drone hit near the TV tower in the city. In the Kaluga region, a Ukrainian drone struck a fuel storage facility, causing a fire, according to the local governor.