An air base in Russian-occupied Crimea erupted with explosions after a Ukrainian strike against Russia’s most advanced air defense batteries, according to Ukrainian reports and analysts.
“Damage to the latest S-400 system has been confirmed, with the launcher being blown up and serious damage done to the other machines of the system,” according to a Ukrainian resistance movement in Crimea, via a Ukrainian media translation. “The occupiers had so much faith in their latest air defense system that they placed the missile storage points right next to the launcher.”
That announcement provides an explanation for footage that circulated on social media of an apparently large explosion at the Dzhankoi air base, in the northern reaches of the Crimean peninsula. Footage of the blasts rocketed across social media, undercutting Russian reports that the attack was unsuccessful.
“I think it was a Storm Shadow or French SCALP missile which took them out,” a senior European official told the Washington Examiner. “If you’re not capable to eliminate those cruise missiles, well, you’re screwed. So, the S-400 is not protecting against it, so that’s impressive.”
The cause of the blasts was not immediately obvious. Russian sources attribute the strike to U.S.-made ATACMS missiles. Ukrainian reports suggest that it was “a series of strikes” including Ukrainian ballistic missiles and cluster bombs, sequenced to maximize the destruction at the base, where Russian forces have stationed two helicopter regiments and other combat forces, as well as a hypersonic missile depot.
“Open-source images from the NASA-operated VIIRS/Suomi satellite network showed six major fires burning in the vicinity of the airfield, some inside aircraft revetments,” according to the Kyiv Independent. “The pro-Russia milblogger Voenniy Osvedomitel said that high explosive warheads carried by ATACMS missiles hit ammunition storage sites and aviation fuel reservoirs, but its source claimed ‘it was possible to avoid the most serious damage.’”
That strike was followed promptly by reports of a Ukrainian military intelligence drone attack against a bomber factory in Tatarstan, Russia.
“A military intelligence source told the Kyiv Independent there were no details at present on damage or casualties,” the Ukrainian outlet noted. “That strike marked one of the deepest attacks on Russian territory since the start of the full-scale invasion.”
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Those operations offer Ukrainian forces and their Western backers a salutary contrast with the difficulties in eastern Ukrainian battlefields, where a shortage of ammunition and air defense interceptors has left Ukrainian troops exposed to increasingly deadly Russian attacks.
“There have been some really marvelous moments,” the senior European official said. “Tough for the land force — all the ones who are going there joining some battle units close to the front line — I’m seeing they are traumatized by the losses Ukrainians are bearing. But at the same time, they are hitting farther than they [have] been able.”