Russia Establishes New Drone Bases Near NATO Borders
3 sources across 3 countries · Italy · Latvia · Ukraine
Who reported this
- ANSA
- Meduza
- Kyiv Independent
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.
Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.
The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.
Russia has established 10 new bases for launching attack drones along its borders with Ukraine and Belarus, according to an investigation by The Telegraph. The report, based on satellite imagery and data from DroneSec, identifies at least 59 launch pads. Some of these bases were built from scratch, while others utilize existing civilian airfields or military installations. One base is reportedly capable of storing over 1,000 drones.
Experts indicate that 20 of the launch pads can deploy new variants of the Geran attack drone, which is modeled after Iran's Shahed. These jet powered drones are believed to have a range of up to 1,000 kilometers, or approximately 620 miles. This range theoretically puts NATO territory, including the city of Warsaw, within reach. However, The Telegraph noted there is currently no indication that Russia is preparing strikes on Polish territory. The bases are already being used extensively for strikes against Ukraine.
In other developments, a joint investigation by Mediazona and the BBC Russian service identified 239,354 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine since February 2022. This figure includes volunteers, mobilized soldiers, and recruited prisoners. Separately, the Ukrainian National Police reported investigating over 20,000 criminal cases of draft evasion since the imposition of martial law. In diplomatic news, the Vatican is planning a mission to Russia from August 25 to 28 to evaluate potential concrete results for diplomatic action.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- Highlighted the technical details of the drone bases and included a human interest story about a monument in Odesa.
- Centre
- Integrated the drone report into a broader summary of Russian casualties and Ukrainian internal mobilization challenges.
Sources
- Centre ANSA: 'Secret bases for Russian super drones, they can reach Warsaw'
- Centre Kyiv Independent: Ukraine war latest: Over 239,000 KIA Russian soldiers identified by media investigation
- Centre-left Meduza: The Telegraph: Russia’s new drone bases on the Ukrainian and Belarusian borders put NATO territory within range
100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.