After the sinking of a Russian warship off Crimea, the Ukrainians announced a major airstrike on the peninsula.
Sevastopol – Can Moscow dictator Vladimir Putin defend Crimea, which he annexed in violation of international law in 2014, in Ukraine's war?
Crimean Peninsula: Ukrainians launch heavy airstrikes against Russian forces
On Thursday (February 1) night, the Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed to have sunk the Russian corvette “Ivanovets” in the Black Sea using surface drones. On the same evening, media from Kiev, Ukrainian military bloggers and a highly quoted adviser to the Interior Ministry, Anton Zherashchenko, suspected a heavy airstrike against the Russian Air Force at Belbek military airfield on the peninsula.
At the same time, the information spread by a video cannot be independently verified.
With Sukhoi Su-24M: Ukrainian Air Force possibly bombing Crimean airfield
People close to the armed forces Kyiv Post It announced Thursday evening that it was “perhaps the most ambitious and complex Ukrainian airstrike of the war so far.” Because: An online newspaper wrote that Belbek is the most developed and supposedly the best Russian air base in the Black Sea region.
At least three Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-24M fighter jets had already flown the main strike on Wednesday (January 31) and fired at least six British Storm Shadows or French Scalp missiles (which are technically identical) at targets around Belbek air base.
Russian losses in Crimea: Su-27 and Su-30 fighter jets reportedly destroyed
Meanwhile, various reports are circulating about Russia's losses after the attack. Gerashchenko said a communications building was destroyed. However, well-known Ukrainian military blogger Igor Sushko reported that two Russian Su-27 fighter jets and a Su-30 multi-role fighter jet were destroyed at the airfield. 12 Russian soldiers were also killed.
This information cannot be independently verified. However, as European defense firm MBDA recently announced, the Ukrainian Air Force can now mount and fire Storm Shadow cruise missiles on their Su-24M fighter jets. This significantly increases Ukraine's flexibility in using cruise missiles. Previously, only MiG-29 fighter jets could mount cruise missiles.
Crimean Peninsula: Weaknesses in Russian Air Defense Revealed?
How about more Kyiv Post The Ukrainians are said to be using a “Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD)”, commonly referred to in military parlance as the ADM-160. Simplified: decoy drones, which look like small cruise missiles, are fired at the same time as Storm Shadows or Scalp-EG and are intended to attract the Russian Air Defense's air-to-ground guided missiles. This did not stop the attack on Belbek. (evening)
. “Amateur alcohol specialist. Reader. Hardcore introvert. Freelance explorer.”