In August last year, the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service (GUR) managed to neutralize three Russian bombers deep in the Russian interior. The GUR has now revealed how exactly a team of spies led by Colonel Oleh Babi (33) managed to do this. And how the operation suddenly went completely wrong on the way back to Ukraine.
It was no coincidence that military intelligence came to Colonel Babi for the assignment. Since the beginning of the war, he has taken part as a reconnaissance officer in operations in occupied areas of Ukraine or in Russia itself. The aim was always to gather intelligence and organize and support the resistance.
It led, among other things, to the discovery of about 70 strategic targets, such as command posts and the locations of military equipment. That information was subsequently used by the Ukrainian army to plan operations. They disrupted Russian logistics and destroyed important infrastructure.
Tupolev Tu-22
In August 2023, Colonel Babi was sent out again with a team. The aim was to destroy three Tupolev Tu-22 supersonic bombers deep in Russia. They can reach a speed of 2,300 kilometers per hour and carry up to 24,000 kilograms of weapons. According to the GUR, they are used to carry out deadly bombings on Ukrainian cities.
According to the Ukrainian news site ‘Novynarnja’, the aircraft were located at a military airfield in the Russian city of Soltsy, in the northwestern Novgorod region. The Ukrainian scouts traveled more than 600 kilometers on foot over enemy terrain to reach the aircraft. On August 19, they succeeded in using drones to destroy one of the bombers and severely damage two others.
After their successful mission, the team returned to Ukraine, but was ambushed along the way. According to the GUR, it ended up in “an unequal fight with the Russian occupiers” on August 30. Babi is said to have given his men cover so that they could flee, but was fatally wounded himself.
Posthumously
The colonel was now posthumously awarded the title of ‘Hero of Ukraine’. According to the GUR, the operation that killed him destabilized the operation of Russian airfields, led to significant economic losses for Russia and caused panic among the Russian army and the local population. Not to mention the damage to Moscow’s image, because an attack so deep into the Russian interior was unprecedented.
Colonel Babi leaves behind a wife and two small children. His youngest daughter was barely a year old when her father died.
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