UKRAINE has successfully blitzed a pair of Russia’s prized Su-34 fighter jets – costing a humiliated Vladimir Putin £74million.
Russia’s despot hit back with a terrifying revenge strike which killed a married couple in a deadly attack on a Ukrainian tower block.
A 21-storey residential block in Odesa was devastated by a cruel tyrant who left it engulfed in flames. Despite the destruction, 14 individuals, including a 3-year-old child, were successfully rescued and taken to the hospital.
Two other children were also among the wounded in the overnight attack, regional Governor Oleh Kiper said.
In recent weeks, Russia has significantly escalated its drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, raising concerns about achieving a lasting ceasefire.
Kyiv has continued to defend themselves valiantly against enemy attacks with them landing a humiliating blow to the Kremlin.
They launched a tactical drone attack on Russia’s Marinovka military airfield in the Volgograd region in Friday.
Ukraine used long range drones to fly 200 miles to inflict millions of pounds worth of damage to Putin’s aerial firepower.
The blitz targeted a set of four Su-34 fighter jets which are each worth a reported £37million.
Russian military analysts expressed anger as they confirmed the destruction of two Su-34 multi-role fighters used for bombing missions against Ukraine on the frontline.
The two others also suffered damage.
Pro-war Russian Telegram channel Fighterbomber raged that the hit “could and should have been prevented”.
The channel expressed fury at the “multi-billion dollar” losses Putin’s forces are suffering each week to their military arsenal.
Ukraine’s SBU security service also commented on the successful strikes as they said: “The Ukrainian Special Operations Forces and the SBU used long-range drones to attack Russian fighter jets.
“The attack also caused a fire in the technical and operational part of the enemy airfield, which is a critical infrastructure for a military facility.
“This is where the enemy prepares aircraft for flights, carries out their routine maintenance and repair work.”
It came less than a month after Russia supposedly tightened its military air base security after 40-plus strategic bombers and spy planes were hit in Kyiv’s audacious Operation Spiderweb.
In Operation Spiderweb – one of the most stunning attacks of the war – drones were launched from trucks positioned close to at least four Russian airfields.
It crippled much of Putin’s doomsday bomber flee with 41 of his most prized aircraft lying in smouldering wrecks on tarmac.
Ukraine said the sneak attack was worth $7bn (£5.2bn) in damage to Russia – caused by only 117 cheaply made drones.
Putin has launched countless revenge strikes since he was embarrassed by the attack.
Last week, he unleashed the deadliest Russian strike on Kyiv in 2025 as 28 people were killed in airstrikes.
Russia blasted 27 locations in Kyiv, with 440 drones and 32 missiles hammering the city for nine hours, according to Ukrainian officials.
Buildings and critical infrastructure facilities were damaged.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it “one of the most terrible strikes on Kyiv”.
Days earlier, Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv was bombarded with 48 kamikaze drones, missiles and guided bombs.
The assault killed three people and injured 21.
Inside Russia’s faltering war
By Sayan Bose, Foreign News Reporter
THE Russian invasion of Ukraine has been advancing at an incredibly slow pace – with Kyiv’s “dronegrinder” warfare miring Putin’s summer offensive.
The rate at which Moscow is capturing land has been dubbed “slower than a snail” – all while the human cost of Russian casualties is sky high.
After 448 days of fighting inside Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, the Russians reportedly only managed to take control of 50 per cent of the city.
Which means the troops, on average, are only able to take 0.00629 square miles of land per day – which is a painfully low conversion rate.
Even snails, which have a speed of 0.03 miles per hour, can cover more land than what the Russians have gained in the region.
Meanwhile, Kyiv has ramped up its defences as it seeks to thwart Vladimir Putin’s final killer summer offensive, which military analysts say could start as early as July.
Ukraine’s fierce resistance forced Russian troops to stop in the Sumy region’s border area, Kyiv’s military Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky revealed.
The military boss said that the Ukrainian armed forces managed to tie down a 50,000-strong force and stabilise the frontlines “as of this week”.
But, some 125,000 Russian soldiers are reportedly now massing along the Sumy and Kharkiv frontiers, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence.
Ukrainians have tasked a special defence group to strengthen fortifications near the frontlines, build anti-drone corridors and “kill zones”
It comes amid fears that Vladimir Putin may launch a fresh summer offensive to try and take as much land as he can before agreeing to a ceasefire.
