Russia blamed Ukraine for the blasts at the air bases.
The attacks were carried out with Soviet-era drones.
Samuel Bendett told Insider that that is a "baffling" admission.
Russia's story in the wake of the explosions acknowledges an embarrassing weakness in its ability to defend its military installations.
It argued that drones first flown before the fall of the Soviet Union hit two airfields hundreds of miles from Ukraine, causing casualties on Russian forces and damaging aircraft in a brazen act of revenge.
Samuel Bendett is a military expert with the Center for Naval Analysis. Why didn't Russian air defenses know where the targets were?
The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Monday that there were attacks on its air bases that killed three soldiers and damaged some aircraft. It said the attacks were carried out with Soviet-era drones.
Russia has been playing fast and loose with facts throughout the war in Ukraine, but its statement of blame on Monday does not make its own military look particularly competent.
The Tu-141 is believed to have been referenced by the Russian defense ministry. One of these drones crashed in Croatia. The incident showed that the craft is still being used.
It's more of a flying missile than a UTA. It is not advanced. The Tu-141 probably makes a lot of noise when it flies. It's one thing to hit something close to the border. The problem is 600 kilometers away.
The attack has not been claimed by the Ukranian government. It is possible that Russia's acknowledgement of vulnerability is a ruse to hide the fact that the strikes were carried out by Ukrainian agents in Russia.
Mykhaylo Podolyak, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote on social media that it was payback for Russia's attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Russian territory has been hit at range in the past. Russia's state media blamed terrorist actions for an attack on an oil refinery that caused a fire but no injuries.
Five miles from the Ukraine-Russia border was where that attack took place. The possibility of strikes within the target-rich environment of the Russian interior is something the Kremlin doesn't seem prepared for.
One day's attacks won't change the war that Russia started in February. As was the case with the November attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet using naval drones, they have the potential to cause a psychological cost and force Russia to spend more resources on defense.
We don't know if it was a helicopter or something else. We are not sure if it was Tu-141. It definitely was effective, according to Bendett.
The impact of the attack was much larger than the losses, according to a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.
The symbolic nature of the attack and the potential diversion of defensive systems to protect Engels and the other bomber bases is more important than the physical damage inflicted on Russian Long Range Aviation.
Tell us about a news story. C Davis is the reporter for Insider.
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