Ukraine launched an overnight attack on the Saky air base in Russian-occupied Crimea, sources in Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) told Ukrainian media on Sept. 21.
An SBU source told Ukrinform that the operation first used drones to exhaust local air defense systems, followed by Ukrainian-made Neptune missiles.
The attack, allegedly carried out by the SBU and Ukraine’s Navy, seriously damaged Russian equipment at the base, Ukrainska Pravda wrote, citing an SBU source.
The SBU said that over a dozen aircraft are stationed at the base, including Su-24 supersonic bombers and Su-30 fighter planes, as well as a Pantsir missile system.
The base is also home to a Russian military training center for operating Iranian-made Mohajer drones, the SBU said.
In the early hours of the morning, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Crimea had been hit by a large-scale drone attack and claimed to have shot down over 19 drones. Saky was named as one of the locations where explosions had been heard.
Saky is in the western part of the peninsular, around 50 kilometers north of Sevastopol.
In recent months, there have been several high-profile strikes on Russian forces in the area, including using marine drones and rockets on Sept. 13 that heavily damaged naval boats and military hardware.
In August 2022, Kyiv said that nine Russian aircraft were destroyed as a result of explosions at the Saky airfield in Russian-occupied Crimea, but didn't confirm its involvement in the attack.
Dinara Khalilova
(Updated: )
