Ukrainian Special Forces hit Russian Shahed drone launch site in occupied Crimea, military says
Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SSO) carried out a successful strike on a Russian site in occupied Crimea used to store and launch Shahed-type drones, the SSO reported on Dec. 1.
The attack took place the night of Nov. 28 and hit an area near Cape Chauda, located at the southern tip of the Crimean peninsula, where Russian forces frequently launch drones at Ukrainian cities.
A Ukrainian deep-strike unit hit a Russian "storage and launch area" for Shahed-type drones, the SSO said. The military included video footage of the reported operation.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claim at the time of publication.
Explosions were reported in occupied Crimea overnight on Nov. 28. Later, the General Staff of the Armed Forces said that Ukraine hit a drone storage site at the Saky airfield in the village of Novofedorivka and "a number of other military facilities."
Russia manufactures its own versions of Iran's Shahed drones: the Geran-1 and Geran-2, cheaper models of the Shahed-131/136. The kamikaze drones are long-range, high-flying, and a staple of Russia's nightly assaults on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.
Throughout 2025, the scale of Russia's drone attacks has grown exponentially. Larger and larger swarms of Gerans have overwhelmed Ukraine's overstretched air defenses, and Russia has been outfitting the weapons with jet engines.
Russia has also increasingly deployed Shahed-style drones against Ukrainian positions on the front lines.
Ukraine regularly targets Russian military facilities in long-range strikes.
