At the Russian military airport Olenjia, in the Murmansk region, close to the border with Norway and Finland, 16 Russian TU-95 and TU-160 strategic bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons were spotted. The Russian Air Force base is only 200 kilometers from the neighboring countries that are part of NATO. According to Ukrainian sources, Russian strategic bombers take off from the Olenjia base to launch missiles on Ukraine.

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the base had only a few Tu-22M supersonic bombers and An-12 military transport aircraft. Last December, Ukrainian drones attacked two strategically based aviation airports in central Russia: Engels in the Saratov region and Dyagilevo near Ryazan. Subsequently, Russia moved the planes farther from the border with Ukraine.