Overview
- Members of the Atesh movement say they burned three cell towers with electronic warfare antennas, which on March 17 cleared a route for Ukrainian drones to hit the 123rd Aircraft Repair Plant in Staraya Russa.
- Ukraine’s General Staff confirms the plant was struck that day, including a hangar used to service Il-76 and L-410 transport aircraft.
- Atesh lists sites near Okhvat in Tver Oblast and near Demyansk and Valdai in Novgorod Oblast, saying the towers had been jamming drones along that flight path.
- The Kyiv Independent reports it could not independently verify the sabotage claims, which were posted by Atesh on social media.
- Atesh says repairs will take months and that the facility works on Il-76 and Il-78 aircraft and engines, with two scarce A-50 radar planes on site at the time, a disruption that could slow Russian transport and surveillance flights.