Ukraine’s military intelligence agency says kyiv destroyed several of Russia’s valuable S-400 air defense launchers in an attack on an air base on the occupied Crimean peninsula this week.
The strikes, which took place Tuesday night, targeted the Djankoi military base in northern Crimea and destroyed or seriously damaged four S-400 launchers, three radar stations, air defense equipment and airspace surveillance equipment, the Main Directorate of Ukrainian Intelligence said. THURSDAY.
“The number of damaged or destroyed enemy air installations and the number of casualties among the personnel of the Russian occupation army are being clarified,” wrote HUR, a branch of the country’s Defense Ministry , in a press release shared with the messaging application Telegram. .
Footage of the attack shared Thursday by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry showed several munitions launched into the sky and then a series of massive explosions at the base.
It’s unclear exactly what type of munitions kyiv’s forces used in the strikes, and Business Insider was not immediately able to verify the footage.
Explosions were first reported around the base early Wednesday morning, then images of the Ukrainian attack began circulating on social media.
Later, the pro-Ukrainian Atesh partisan movement reported the “defeat” of an “S-400 complex.” A launcher exploded and the system’s remaining vehicles were severely damaged, Atesh said, citing operatives the group said it had within the Russian military.
“The occupiers believed so much in their new air defense system that they placed missile warehouses directly next to the launcher,” Atesh claimed in a Telegram statement.
Russia’s formidable S-400 Triumf is a mobile surface-to-air missile system capable of engaging targets – such as aircraft, drones, and cruise and ballistic missiles – at long range and high altitude. The S-400 is the successor to the S-200 and S-300 and is considered a Russian equivalent of the US-made MIM-104 Patriot battery.
The advanced S-400, which has been highly praised by Moscow, has played a role in depriving Ukrainian aircraft of the ability to operate close to the front lines. S-400 losses throughout the war have been relatively rare, although kyiv managed to destroy several systems, including a few following attacks last fall.
Russia has also deployed several different types of helicopters – including the Mi-8, Mi-25M, Mi-28 and Ka-52 – to the Djankoi base, according to the Institute for the Study of the war. Conflict analysts wrote that it was unclear whether any of the planes suffered damage in the attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy celebrated the attack Wednesday evening and thanked Ukrainian forces and Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of kyiv’s army, for organizing the operation. “The occupier must lose, and each of its losses makes Ukraine strong,” he said in a speech to the nation.
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