Ukrainian strike on Crimea airbase destroys three Russian warplanes, satellite firm says
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A satellite image showing what appears to be a damaged MiG29 fighter following an attack at an airbase in Crimea on May 16.
PHOTO: REUTERS
KYIV – A long-range Ukrainian strike on the Moscow-controlled Belbek airbase in occupied Crimea destroyed three Russian warplanes and a fuel facility near its main runway this week, according to US commercial satellite company Maxar.
The company said satellite imagery taken on May 16 showed that two MiG-31 fighter jets and an Su-27 fighter jet had been destroyed. It added that one MiG-29 fighter aircraft also appeared to have been damaged.
The Russian Defence Ministry said on May 16 that Ukraine staged an overnight attack on Crimea, and that its air defence forces intercepted five long-range missiles known as ATACMS.
An intelligence source told Reuters that Ukraine attacked a power substation in Crimea, an oil depot and a railway station in Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, and an oil refinery in the port town of Tuapse overnight on May 16.
Ukraine has increasingly resorted to using long-range drones and missiles to strike strategic targets far behind the front line, including in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula that Russian troops seized and annexed in 2014. REUTERS
