KYIV, Aug. 16 -- The MiG-31K fighters based at Savasleyka airfield, in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region, carry one weapon Ukrainian air defenses cannot reliably stop: the Kinzhal, a hypersonic ballistic missile that has struck apartment buildings, infrastructure, and military sites across Ukraine at speeds too fast for conventional interception. On Saturday, Ukraine's Flamingo cruise missiles reached Savasleyka itself, approximately 700 kilometres from Ukrainian territory, targeting the airbase from which those Kinzhal sorties originate.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed both strikes personally. "The Savasleyka airfield, where the carriers of Russian missiles that strike our cities and villages are based, was also reached," he said ...