Hero of Ukraine: the soldier who led a secret mission into Russia to destroy Moscow’s bombers

In January 2024, the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence (GRU) honored one of its fallen heroes who was killed in the line of duty in a post on its website. But in doing so, the intelligence agency revealed some of the details behind a secret operation that saw agents destroy key long-range bombers in Russia

Colonel Oleh Babii was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine, which is the highest national decoration given in Ukraine. He was killed during a mission that saw him and his unit walk hundreds of miles into Russia.

Photo Credit: Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, CC BY 4.0 DEED

Babii and his unit snuck into Russia and trekked roughly three hundred and seventy miles or six hundred kilometers across the country so that they could destroy several Tupolev TU-22 bombers Moscow was using to attack Ukrainian cities. 

The Main Directorate report honoring Colonel Babii explained that he was a scout who took an active role in organizing and carrying out special operations against Russia from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Colonel Babii had nine successful reconnaissance missions into Russia under his belt and twelve special operations in which he helped plan, organize, and support resistance movements in various territories occupied by Russia.

At least seventy key strategic objects such as command posts, military equipment, and essential fortifications had been identified by Babii—and this information was used by the Ukrainian forces and resistance groups to hinder Russian operations.  

Information from Colonel Babii’s unit helped knock out the combat capabilities of entire Russian divisions and he gave his life on his final mission to ensure that the soldiers he served with were able to escape after hitting their targets.

"Having made their way deep into the enemy's rear,” the GRU report read based on a translation from Ukrainska Pravda, “the intelligence officers accomplished their task – they destroyed a Russian Tu-22M3 bomber and disabled two more.”

The report added the mission “significantly disrupted the plans of the Russian military and political leadership to launch missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine and completely disrupted the operation of airfields and long-range aircraft basing points."

However, Colonel Babii’s success didn't mean his unit would make it out of Russia unscathed. While they were making their way back to Ukraine, the unit was ambushed and forced to fight an engagement in which they were outnumbered.

It was during this battle that Colonel Babii was fatally wounded while covering the retreat of his team. This feat earned him the title of Hero of Ukraine posthumously and the order of the Golden Star for his actions on August 30th, 2023. 

Colonel Babii’s family received his award during a ceremony with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on January 23rd, 2024 during which Zelensky gave Babii’s eldest son his awards and told him: "Your father is a hero, and you are the son of a hero."

The Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence didn’t specify whether or not the mission Colonel Babii died during was the same one that saw the destruction of one Tu-22M3 Backfire bomber make news on social media in August 2023, according to Newsweek, but is possible that it was the same operation.

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Ivan Z, CC BY-SA 3.0

Images of the attack were shared online and showed an airplane engulfed in flames at the time, and Newsweek noted that the Tu-22M3 Backfire long-range bombers stationed at Soltsy-2 airbase were used to launch KH-22 cruise missiles at Ukraine. 

Photo Credit: Telegram @zsuwar

On August 19th, 2023 Russia’s Soltsy-2 Airbase was hit by a drone attack that Moscow noted was a Ukrainian operation. "One airplane was damaged; there were no casualties as a result of the terrorist act,” the Russian Defense Ministry stated according to BBC News.  

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Dmitry Terekhov, CC BY-SA 2.0

“While the destruction of a single aircraft will have little effect on the potency of Moscow's current 60-strong fleet, the operation highlights Kyiv's growing ability to strike targets deep inside Russian territory,” explained BBC News’s Graeme Baker. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Alexander Beltyukov