Fighter jets destroyed

Devastating air strike against Russian Crimean base

This satellite image shows a destroyed Russian MiG-31 fighter jet at the attacked military base.

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/Maxar Technologies)

Ukrainian forces have apparently succeeded in launching an airstrike on the Belbek military airbase in Russian-occupied Crimea. Satellite images show destroyed fighter jets and a burnt-out fuel depot. There was no official statement from Kiev on the attack.

According to the US satellite company Maxar, the destroyed fighter jets were two MiG-31s and an SU-27 fighter jet. According to reports, an S-400 air defense system was also hit. The Moscow-controlled airbase is an important base for Russian air strikes on Ukraine. US-made ATACMS missiles were apparently used in the attack. However, the Kremlin had only announced that they had been defended against.

Kremlin: 102 drones shot down
Meanwhile, Ukraine also scored another hit on a Russian oil refinery. Following a drone attack, a fire broke out at the plant in Tuapse in the Krasnodar region. During the night, 102 Ukrainian drones were destroyed, half of them over the Crimean peninsula, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense in Moscow on Friday.

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There were also casualties in the attacks - including on the Krasnodar and Belgorod oblasts. In the Belgorod region, a woman and her four-year-old son died after a drone hit their car, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. The father and another man were injured. A large fire also broke out at a petrol station after a hit, as can be seen in photos.

Power supply hit in Crimea
The Russian side also reported that the Black Sea Fleet had neutralized six naval drones. As a result of the attacks, a substation in Sevastopol in Crimea was damaged. "There will be isolated power outages," explained the local governor, Mikhail Rasvoshaev, on Telegram. In view of the situation, schools and kindergartens remained closed. Sevastopol, the capital of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, is the home port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Dead in air strike on Kharkiv
Ukraine, for its part, said it had shot down all 20 drones targeted by Russia on the country during the night. The military reported the shootings over the regions of Kharkiv, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Odessa and Mykolaiv. According to the authorities, at least two people were killed in a Russian airstrike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. In addition, 13 people were injured, according to the administration of the Kharkiv region.

Police officers bring civilians in Kharkiv to safety from Russian air strikes.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Ukraine Emergency Service/Handout)

Russian aircraft dropped two glide bombs on the city on Friday, wrote Governor Oleh Synjehubow on Telegram. According to the mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Techerov, there were four explosions during the attack. A fire broke out during one of the detonations. According to the regional governor of Kharkiv, Oleh Synyehubov, five buildings were damaged, including an administrative building. Ukraine's second largest city, which lies close to the border with Russia, has been bombed by the Russian air force for weeks. At the same time, Russian ground troops are continuing the offensive they began a week ago in the border area near Kharkiv.