Ukrainian drones successfully hit Russian aircraft repair plant in occupied Crimea, SBU says
Ukrainian drones struck an aircraft repair plant and two Russian Pantsir-S2 air defense systems overnight in the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent on March 6.
The long-range drones hit the production workshops of the Yevpatoria Aircraft Repair Plant, located in western Crimea, as well as two Pantsir-S2 systems near a Russian military airfield in Dzhankoi, which sits in the peninsula's northeast, according to the SBU source.
The SBU source added that other Russian military equipment and sites were struck by the overnight Ukrainian drone strikes, including two fuel tankers, an anti-aircraft gun mounted on a truck, and a ground control station for drones.
"The SBU's systematic special operations in Crimea are aimed at destroying the military infrastructure that Russia uses to attack Ukraine," the SBU source told the Kyiv Independent.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defense shot down 56 Ukrainian drones over Crimea overnight, but has not commented on the damages reported by the SBU source.
The reported Ukrainian drone strikes come as Ukraine regularly launches attacks on Russian military sites and infrastructure supporting the Russian army both inside Russia and in occupied territories, in efforts to grind down the Russian war machine from afar.
The direct impact of the attacks carried out by Ukraine's domestically produced drones is difficult to independently verify. The Kyiv Independent couldn't independently verify the reported overnight attacks on Crimea.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) claimed in January that its long-range strikes over the past year either "destroyed or disabled" Russian air defense systems worth a total of approximately $4 billion.
