Ukraine ‘well prepared’ for Russian response to drone stunt: Pistorius

COLOGNE, Germany — Ukrainian forces are “well prepared” for a Russian response to Sunday’s drone attacks against long-range bombers parked on air bases across Russia, according to German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.

Speaking ahead of a June 4 meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels, Pistorius said the scope and timing of a potential Russian counterattack was still unclear. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov was expected to brief allies about options at the gathering, he added.

“We can only speculate about what the Russian forces and Putin are willing and able to do,” the German defense minister told reporters, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I believe the Ukrainians are well prepared, in part thanks to the support they are getting from us.”

Ukrainian forces orchestrated a daring series of drone attacks on June 1 against Russian warplanes of types previously used to launch missiles into Ukraine from great distances.

Officials in Kyiv have said more than 41 Russian military aircraft were destroyed in the attack, a claim that Western news agencies have been unable to verify so far.

Satellite imagery showed seven destroyed aircraft — at least three Tu-95 long-range bombers and four Tu-22Ms — at an air base in eastern Siberia alone, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Russian commanders have used the aircraft, combined with shorter-range attack drones, to strike civilian targets in Ukraine in an effort to grind down the population’s morale, according to Pistorius.

Western military officials have started drawing their own lessons from the Ukrainian surprise attack, dubbed “Operation Spiderweb” by Kyiv.

“This shows us that seemingly impenetrable locations maybe are not,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said in Washington on Tuesday . “We need to pay more attention to that.”

The idea that high-tech warplanes, concentrated on vulnerable air bases, pose an achilles heel in U.S. war plans has been percolating in Air Force circles for some time.

Sebastian Sprenger is associate editor for Europe at Defense News, reporting on the state of the defense market in the region, and on U.S.-Europe cooperation and multi-national investments in defense and global security. Previously he served as managing editor for Defense News. He is based in Cologne, Germany.

德国科隆——德国国防部长鲍里斯·皮斯托里乌斯表示，乌克兰军队已“做好充分准备”，应对俄罗斯对周日无人机袭击俄罗斯各地空军基地远程轰炸机的回应。

在6月4日于布鲁塞尔举行的乌克兰防务联络小组会议前夕，皮斯托里乌斯表示，俄罗斯可能发动的反击的规模和时间仍不明朗。他还补充说，乌克兰国防部长鲁斯捷姆·乌梅罗夫预计将在会上向盟友通报相关选项。

德国国防部长告诉记者：“我们只能猜测俄罗斯军队和普京愿意且能够做什么。”他指的是俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京。“我相信乌克兰人已经做好了充分的准备，这部分要归功于我们给予他们的支持。”

6月1日，乌克兰军队精心策划了一系列大胆的无人机袭击，目标是此前曾用于从远距离向乌克兰发射导弹的俄罗斯战机。

基辅官员称，袭击中超过 41 架俄罗斯军用飞机被摧毁，但西方新闻机构至今仍无法证实这一说法。

美联社周三报道，卫星图像显示，仅在西伯利亚东部的一个空军基地就有七架飞机被摧毁——至少三架图-95远程轰炸机和四架图-22M轰炸机。

皮斯托里乌斯表示，俄罗斯指挥官利用这种飞机，结合短程攻击无人机，袭击乌克兰的平民目标，试图削弱民众的士气。

西方军事官员已经开始从乌克兰发动的突袭（基辅方面称之为“蜘蛛网行动”）中吸取教训。

“这表明，看似坚不可摧的地方可能并非如此，”空军参谋长戴维·奥​​尔文将军周二在华盛顿表示。“我们需要对此给予更多关注。”

一段时间以来，美国空军内部一直流传着这样一种观点：高科技战机集中在脆弱的空军基地，是美国战争计划中的一个软肋。

塞巴斯蒂安·斯普伦格是《防务新闻》欧洲版副主编，负责报道该地区的防务市场状况，以及美欧在防务和全球安全领域的合作和多国投资。此前，他曾担任《防务新闻》执行主编。他现居德国科隆。