The occupiers complain that Ukrainian drones are piercing through the concrete shelters housing their aircraft
Russian military personnel and propagandists have begun complaining en masse that the new reinforced concrete shelters at frontline airfields no longer protect their aircraft from Ukrainian airstrikes.
Major construction of protective structures for tactical aircraft has been actively underway since 2024 by order of Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, and as of the summer of 2025, large-scale work was underway at 14 air bases around Ukraine and in occupied Crimea.
The reason for building new structures was that modern Russian Su-30, Su-34, and Su-35 fighters physically do not fit into standard Soviet-era 2A13-type arched shelters. The occupiers had hoped to protect their equipment from ATACMS ballistic missiles with cluster warheads and light drones, but recent strikes by the Ukrainian Defense Forces have demonstrated the ability to effectively destroy even reinforced concrete structures.
Experts attribute this success to the significant modernization of Ukrainian weaponry. In particular, domestic middle-strike drones, such as the FP-2 from Fire Point, have been equipped with significantly more powerful warheads weighing 200 kg. To penetrate thick ceilings, a combined warhead (similar to the Storm Shadow missile) can be used, where a cumulative charge burns a hole in the concrete, into which the main projectile flies. Furthermore, even without completely penetrating the roof, a powerful high-explosive blast from the outside causes internal concrete spalling, and the resulting debris destroys the aircraft inside the hangar at high speed.
Such tactics may have already been successfully tested in late April, when the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Special Operations Forces struck the reinforced concrete shelters of Iskander missile systems near the village of Ovrazhki in occupied Crimea. The systematic and methodical use of such upgraded drones is capable not only of inflicting serious losses on Russia’s aviation but also of completely nullifying the enemy’s multibillion-dollar efforts and years of work to militarize frontline airfields.
This was reported by Defense Express.
The occupiers launched a massive shelling of four districts in the Kyiv region, causing destruction
As a reminder, Russia attacked dozens of settlements in the Kherson region over the past day, resulting in deaths and injuries.
On the evening of May 24, Russian troops carried out an airstrike on Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region, hitting a high-rise residential building. A woman was killed in the attack, and five other people were wounded.
In the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv, a business center was hit following a massive nighttime attack by Russia. Preliminary reports indicate that people may be trapped inside the shelter.
As a result of Russia’s massive missile and drone attack on Kyiv, the blast wave damaged the ground-level lobby of the Lukyanivska metro station.
