Airfield in sight
Ukraine attacks occupied Crimea with missiles
January 31, 2024, 8:47 p.m
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Ukraine is attacking various locations in Russian-occupied Crimea with around 20 cruise missiles. This will also include an air force base. Russia says there is little damage.
According to Russian military information, Ukraine attacked the annexed Crimean peninsula and the city of Sevastopol with missiles. The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine used 20 cruise missiles. 17 of them have already been intercepted over the Black Sea and three more over the Crimea. The information could not be independently verified.
Debris from the intercepted bullets fell on a military site near the village of Lyubimowka north of Sevastopol, the statement said. The large Russian air base at Belbek is located there, but its name was not mentioned. “No aircraft equipment was damaged,” the Defense Ministry said.
The commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Mykola Oleshchuk, published on Telegram a video that is supposed to show the attack on the air base. According to a report by the online portal “Ukrainska Pravda”, the airfield was attacked with cruise missiles.
According to unofficial reports from Crimea, the attack was larger in scale. Smoke can be seen both in the south and in the north of Sevastopol, the Telegram channel “Krymski Weter” reported. In the north of the city, a thick cloud is rising near the Belbek military airfield. Explosions were also reported in the area of the Russian military air base at Saki near Yevpatoria. Accordingly, numerous Russian fighter planes took to the sky to avoid being hit on the ground.
Russia downplays damage
The consequences of the attack were also downplayed in messages from the Russian-appointed city chief of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razwoshayev. Rocket debris fell into an allotment in Lyubimowka, he wrote on Telegram. Twelve buildings were damaged, but not badly: “Broken windows, broken fences and things like that.” Nobody was injured.
Ukraine has been fending off a Russian invasion for almost two years. Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, is particularly important for Russian warfare. Many troops are stationed there and supplies flow across the peninsula. Sevastopol is the home port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, although most ships have been withdrawn from there. Thanks to improved drones of its own and weapons with longer ranges from Western supplies, Ukraine can increasingly fight military targets in Crimea. The Ukrainian leadership is aiming to recapture the peninsula.