The main missile and artillery depot of the Russian Belbek military airfield near occupied Sevastopol was damaged on the evening of May 15, according to the partisan group Atesh.
The Crimean Wind Telegram channel claimed earlier that the Belbek airfield was attacked, and a fuel depot caught fire as a result of the strike, according to eyewitnesses. Explosions were reported in occupied Sevastopol, Simferopol, Dzhankoi, and Hvardiiske.
The partisans claim that the damaged depot stored "most of the missiles" for Russian Su-27 and Su-30 fighter jets as well as MiG-31 aircraft, a carrier of Kinzhal ballistic missiles that Russia uses to attack Ukraine. The partisans did not explicitly say whether the stored ammunition included Kinzhals.
"There was also significant damage to the airfield's infrastructure as a result of secondary detonation," Atesh claimed.
Russia's Defense Ministry alleged that five U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles were intercepted overnight by air defenses.
The Ukrainian military has not commented on the attacks. The Kyiv Independent could not verify all these claims.
Explosions were reportedly heard in occupied Sevastopol, and fires were burning near the Belbek military airfield earlier overnight on May 15.
Sevastopol is also home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet and is frequently targeted by Ukrainian missile and naval drone strikes.
Russian authorities regularly claim to have downed Ukrainian missiles and drones without reporting damage, though later reports at times emerge showing military targets or infrastructure that appear to have been struck.
Kateryna Hodunova
(Updated: )
