Ukraine strikes airfield in occupied Crimea, destroys An-72 aircraft and Orion drone base
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Editor's note: Read the General Staff's latest update on this strike here.
Ukrainian forces, with the help of military intelligence, struck multiple Russian military targets at the Kirovske airfield in occupied Crimea overnight on April 2, Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces said.
The strike destroyed a Russian An-72P patrol aircraft and a site used to prepare Orion strike and reconnaissance drones for missions, according to the statement.
Ukraine's military said the facility served as a base and pre-flight training point for Orion heavy drones, and confirmed that four of the drones were destroyed in the attack.
"On the night of April 2, 2026, the Birds of the 1st USF and 9th HUR departments paid a courtesy visit to the base and pre-flight training point of the latest and high-cost Orion strike and reconnaissance UAVs," USF Commander Robert "Magyar" Brody said.
Ukrainian forces also destroyed a Soviet-era P-37 "Sword" mobile radar system at the airfield.
The strike was carried out using Ukrainian-made FP-2 strike weapons equipped with a 60–100 kilogram warhead, Brody said, publishing video of the attack.
Russian forces have used occupied Crimea as a key aviation and drone hub throughout the full-scale war, and Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted military infrastructure on the peninsula.
The strike comes days after a Russian An-26 transport aircraft crashed in occupied Crimea on March 31, killing 29 military personnel on board, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry.
