Ukraine’s daring swoop on airbase behind enemy lines
Nine war planes destroyed by elite troops in Crimea mission
Ukrainian special forces operating behind enemy lines carried out a strike on a russian airfield in occupied Crimea, officials in kyiv claimed last night.
it was initially thought that President Zelensky’s forces had used longrange weapons to hit the Saki airbase, which has been used to launch devastating attacks on Ukrainian territory,
But top officials briefed yesterday that elite units, possibly backed by local saboteurs, were behind the counterattacks which destroyed nine enemy war planes 125 miles into russian-held territory.
no more details of the daring operation were released and kyiv was careful not to confirm or deny the claims.
instead Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii reznikov, speaking in Denmark as he met British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, took the opportunity to mock the kremlin. ‘a russian broke a very important rule – do not smoke in a dangerous place,’ he said.
Mr Wallace said: ‘if there was a Ukrainian
‘The Russians are safe nowhere’
attack on the airbase in Crimea it was an entirely legitimate action.
‘The base has been used to provide logistical support for russian operations in eastern Ukraine.’
Pictures showed russian holidaymakers fleeing in panic as explosions – up to 15 in a minute – sent mushroom clouds into the sky. The Ukrainian defence ministry wrote on Twitter: ‘The presence of occupying troops on the territory of Ukrainian Crimea is not compatible with the high tourist season.’
Mr Wallace added: ‘i think when you just look at the footage of two simultaneous explosions not quite next to each other, and some of the reported damage even by the russian authorities, i think it’s clear that that’s not something that happens by someone dropping a cigarette.’
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Mr Zelensky, told the Daily Mail a full counterattack by Ukraine in the south of the country – its industrial heartland bordering Crimea – ‘is only a matter of time’ away. ‘One thing is certain: Today there is no part of occupied Ukraine where russian troops can feel safe,’ he said.
Mr Podolyak, who declined to comment on Tuesday’s explosions, added that a push to retake the southern flank of Ukraine – which includes the region of kherson and part of Zaporizhzhia, will require more heavy weapons from the West.
another Ukrainian official told the Politico website that they expected the intensity of the fighting this month and next to ‘look like February’, when war broke out.
‘Let them [russia] know how it feels,’ the aide said, adding: ‘[They] are safe nowhere.’
Sergei aksyonov, the leader of Vladimir Putin’s puppet administration in Crimea, yesterday declared a state of emergency in the territory which was annexed by russia in 2014.
Mr aksyonov and officials in Moscow have blamed the blasts on a breach of fire regulations at an ammunition depot and dismissed reports that Ukraine was behind them.
But the institute for the Study of War, a top US think-tank tracking the conflict, said russia was merely trying to hide yet another humiliating military failure.
‘The kremlin has little incentive to accuse Ukraine of conducting strikes that caused the damage since such strikes would demonstrate the ineffectiveness of russian air defence systems,’ it wrote in a report.
Mr Zelensky vowed yesterday that he would keep fighting until Ukraine has reclaimed Crimea. in his nightly televised address to the nation, he said: ‘Crimea is Ukrainian and we will never give it up. This russian war against Ukraine, and against the entire free Europe, began with Crimea and must end with Crimea – with its liberation.’
The developments in the war came as Mr Wallace said Britain was doubling its supply of longrange rocket firing systems to kyiv. Three more kits – nicknamed the ‘70km sniper’ for their deadly accuracy over long distances – will be sent following assurances from Ukraine that they will be more careful in choosing their targets.
Previously they had been using highly expensive British rockets to hit targets of low tactical importance. now Ukraine must tell British top brass which russian assets are destroyed using Uk-donated launchers and ammunition to prevent missile stocks running dry.