Satellite images show the destruction caused by an attack on a Russian airfield in occupied Crimea on Tuesday, when as many as 13 warplanes were destroyed.
The specifics of the attack are not clear, though the air force of Ukraine did post a picture of the destroyed planes.
—Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) August 11, 2022
Russia claimed that the damage was caused by an accident and didn't destroy anything significant.
At least three buildings appeared to have been destroyed at the naval air base, which was seized by the Russians from the Ukrainians.
The left image is dated to Tuesday while the right image shows the base the next day.
Russia's air force has used Su 30 and Su 24 jets for decades. The Su-31 is a fighter that is meant to engage other planes.
The founder of Bellingcat noted the large craters, destroyed aircraft, and destroyed buildings.
The only damage from the fire which is visible is lots of burnt grass was caused by a lot of planes blowing up in one area.
He wrote that he couldn't think of a time when Russia had lost so many air assets in a single day.
Estimates of the losses vary based on the images. Oliver Alexander is an analyst with the open-source analysis company.
At least nine planes were believed to have been destroyed by the Russian military.
The New York Times verified the authenticity of the on-the-ground footage.
—OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 9, 2022
The defense ministry of Ukraine said on Tuesday that it couldn't determine the cause of the explosion.
An anonymous official told The Washington Post that Ukrainian special forces were to blame.
An anonymous official said that the blasts could be considered part of a counter-offensive by the Ukrainians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that he wanted to take back the first part of Ukrainian territory that was taken by Russia.
Zelenskyy saidCrimea is Ukrainian and we will never give it up.
He said that the Russian war against Ukraine started with the occupation of the peninsula. The Russian war started with the peninsula of Crimea.
Russia did not point the finger at Ukraine, attributing the blasts only to an explosion.
The Institute for the Study of War said that it was likely because Russia was not willing to admit that it had failed in its defense.
The institute said that the Kremlin has little incentive to accuse Ukraine of conducting strikes that caused the damage since such strikes would show the ineffectiveness of Russian air defense systems.
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