After Ukraine's UAV attack on June 1 targeting a series of Russian military airports, the Russian Foreign Ministry denied Kiev's claims that many strategic bombs were destroyed. Russia insists the plane was only slightly damaged and is under repair.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said: "As the Ministry of Defense said, those aircraft were not destroyed but only damaged. They will be repaired.
Mr. Ryabkov emphasized that the information spread by Ukraine - claiming that the attack had destroyed part of Russia's strategic deterrence capabilities - was "not real". He added, it is necessary to rely on official data from the Russian Defense Ministry, not from Kievs propaganda.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, in the early morning of June 1, Ukraine launched first-ang vuicing UAV attacks (FPV) targeting many military airports in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions. Many attacks were intercepted. At some airports, some aircraft caught fire but the fire was quickly controlled. There were no casualties, and some related suspects have been arrested.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian sources confirmed that the " spider web" operation destroyed and damaged about 40 aircraft, including strategic bombers capable of carrying Tu-95MS, Tu-22M nuclear bombs and Russia's A-50 anti-aircraft warning aircraft.
When asked if the incident would affect the Russia-Western strategic balance, Ryabkov said: "Let's draw our own conclusions. The targeted vehicles are not necessarily part of arms control agreements. As you know, we have suspended it.
The statement implied that the bombs attacked were not under START control, and that Russia had suspended its participation in the treaty since 2023, so there were no constraints on the number or type of strategic weapons to be declared or restricted.
The START (Stage of Counter arms Treaty) is a bilateral agreement between Russia and the US to limit the number of nuclear warheads and transport vehicles. The latest version - New START - signed in 2010, allows each side to maintain a maximum of 1,550 warheads and 700 deployment vehicles. However, Russia announced a suspension of participation in February 2023 amid escalating tensions with the West over the conflict in Ukraine.
Ryabkov also said that Russia had asked the US to explain why it was "silent" about Kiev's attack plan. Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov later said that President Donald Trump, during a phone call with President Putin, asserted that Washington knew nothing about Ukraine's plans.
