US sniffer aircraft flies near Russia’s nuclear base as Russian strategic bombers continue Ukraine strikes
August 7, 2025
Russia is continuing to launch strikes on Ukraine using its strategic bombers. Meanwhile, the US flew its specialised WC-135R nuclear “Sniffer” aircraft close to Russia’s main nuclear submarine base amid more nuclear sabre-rattling.
Increased reporting of nuclear threats in the media
On August 4th, A2News reported Russia had redeployed at least four of its strategic bombers closer to Europe. The aircraft, Tu-95MS heavy bombers, are reportedly ‘laden with missiles,’ causing concern about an imminent attack.
Russia had moved its Tu-95MS ‘Bear’ aircraft from Olenya in Murmansk after they came under threat from a daring drone attack by Ukraine. The planes were sent to Russia’s Ukrainka air base in the Amur region, 5,900 kilometres east of Moscow, where they were considered safe from attack, but it appears that some of them are returning. Quoting from an InsiderUA report, it said:
“Russia has transferred bombers from the Far East closer to Ukraine. At least 4 Tu-95MS aircraft have been repositioned from Ukrainka to Olenya/Engels-2. Some of the aircraft are already equipped with cruise missiles.”
The article seemingly sought to draw a link between that development and the US decision announced by Donald Trump to move two nuclear submarines closer to Russia.
Meanwhile, Newsweek reported on August 6th that a US Air Force WC-135R Constant Phoenix aircraft took offer from RAF Mildenhall in the UK and flew along the coast of Norway, flying close to Russia’s nuclear bases in the northwest of the country. Russia’s main naval base with most of its nuclear submarines is located in the region at Murmansk.
The US Air Force has three WC-135R “Sniffer” aircraft in service. These are used to collect samples from the air and detect and identify nuclear explosions. These were also seen flying during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June 2025.
Newsweek said that Russian officials have said Moscow ‘no longer sees itself as limited’ by restrictions previously placed on both nuclear and conventional intermediate-range and short-range missiles.
Disconnected events & Ukraine’s devastating Operation Spiderweb
While it may be tempting to connect the dots between these various events, that is misleading. The WC-135R flights may signal a US response to Russia’s nuclear threats, alongside nuclear submarine deployments, but they are unrelated to the Engels bombers.
While Russia’s strategic bombers are capable of carrying nuclear bombs, the missiles they were laden with in Engels were normal conventional missiles. For years, airstrikes on Ukraine using these bombers have been routine.
Wartime wear and tear, losses from accidents, and Ukraine’s significant Operation Spiderweb have significantly degraded Russia’s bomber fleet. Ukraine claimed to have eliminated 34% of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers at bases targeting over 40 aircraft.
Operation "Spiderweb"@ServiceSsu has released unique footage of an operation that resulted in the damaging of 41 russian strategic military aircraft. pic.twitter.com/S4C8bSJRAV
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) June 4, 2025
Open source intelligence revealed that around 20 aircraft were hit, including some apparently derelict aircraft. Many of Russia’s bombers are not operational, and the Financial Times estimated that around 20% of Russia’s operational long-range aviation fleet had been damaged or destroyed.
Dispersion and reduced sorties
After the attack, Russia dispersed its bombers to remote airbases across the vast country. Dispersals come with massive logistical challenges.
Not only is it much more difficult to maintain them away from Engels, but it also adds significant flight times to missions. This increases the aircraft’s rate of wear and tear while reducing the number of sorties they are able to carry out.
Russia’s bomber fleet is also struggling and ageing. These aircraft are out of production, and Russia is unable to replace them and is struggling to find replacement parts.
Perhaps due to limited available airframes, after Operation Spiderweb, Russia used its T-160 White Swans for the first time to launch strikes on Ukraine. These are seen as the keystone nuclear carriers of the Russian Air Force.
Previously, they had been kept back, allowing older Tu-95s and Tu-22s to launch strikes. Perhaps with that in mind, Ukraine did not seem to target those aircraft, even though at least one was very obviously parked at an airfield during the attack.
Belaya. 10: Tu-95MS destroyed at 52.917366, 103.563407 was recorded by a UAV flying nearby (4:24-4:31). pic.twitter.com/XBM3qXxhaS
— The Military Watch (@MarcinRogowsk14) June 5, 2025
Russia has put the old variable-sweep-wing Tu-160 back into production, but its industry is only able to deliver one or two new aircraft a year. So far, it’s unclear how many airframes have been completely built from scratch and how many used existing components and incomplete airframes lying around since Soviet times.
