Ukraine raids airport, destroys Russian command post in Crimea

The image accompanying a January 6 post by Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk shows the scene of the Ukrainian military's raid on Russia's Saky airport on the Crimean peninsula (Photo: Telegram/Mykola Oleshchuk).

"Saky airport! All targets destroyed!... Thank you to our pilots for their excellent work!", Mr. Oleshchuk wrote on the Telegram social network on the morning of January 6 (Kiev time).

Previously, since late on January 5, some sources reported explosions in Crimea, especially in the area around Saky airport.

The pro-Ukrainian Telegram channel Crimean Wind quoted witnesses as saying that there were about 10 explosions in the Yevpatoria area, in addition to other explosions at the Saky military airport in the village of Novofedorovka.

Also on the evening of January 5, traffic on the bridge across the Kerch Strait connecting Crimea was disrupted for about an hour.

The Russian Defense Ministry has yet to comment on Ukraine’s assertion. On January 6, the agency only announced that Russian air defenses had successfully intercepted and shot down four Ukrainian guided missiles over the Crimean peninsula.

Earlier, Commander Meatchuk said on January 5 that Ukraine had carried out two missile attacks on Russian targets in Crimea.

The targets included a command post near Sevastopol, which was attacked at around 3 p.m., and a military infrastructure facility, believed to be a radar station in Uyutne, near the city of Yevpatoria.

Mr Oleshchuk thanked the pilots and “all those who planned the operation perfectly”. The wording in Mr Oleshchuk’s post suggests that the strikes may have used British Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

Model of Storm Shadow missile, the type of missile that Britain provided to Ukraine during the war with Russia (Illustration photo: AFP).

A spokesman for the Russian-appointed Crimean government said its air defenses had intercepted 10 Ukrainian missiles and 36 drones, and only recorded debris falling on the two targets.

However, within hours of the raid on the headquarters, unverified information appeared on social media claiming that more than 20 Russian soldiers and several high-ranking officers had been killed.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/ukraine-tap-kich-san-bay-pha-huy-tram-chi-huy-nga-tai-crimea-20240106200157787.htm