Ukraine missiles strike Russian positions in occupied Crimea
UKRAINE yesterday launched a massive missile barrage against four Russian military positions in occupied Crimea.
The head of Ukraine’s air force praised a “cleansing of Crimea from the Russian presence”, indicating that British Storm Shadow missiles fired from Kyiv’s jets were used in the raid.
It came a day after Ukrainian forces struck a radar station used by air-defence systems in northwestern Crimea.
Explosions and active surface-to-air interceptors were reported in the major port city of Sevastopol and the nearby military airfield of Belbek.
Footage of the strike at the Russian air base shared on social media appeared to show a huge plume of smoke rising into the sky.
A second video showed another missile hitting near to the source of the smoke, where a fire was reportedly burning. Lt Gen Mykola Oleshchuk, the head of Ukraine’s air force, said: “Ukrainian aviators will definitely return home to their native airfield.
“And now I thank everyone who joined the cleansing of Crimea from the Russian presence!”
The Russian ministry of defence claimed it had shot down a salvo of 20 Ukrainian missiles over the Black Sea and the occupied peninsula , which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.
Fragments from downed missiles also crashed into a military unit in Lyubimovka, which is near the Belbek military air base.
The ministry said there was no damage to any “aviation equipment” in its statement, while Crimea’s Russian-installed governor said there had been no casualties as a result of the Ukrainian strikes. The Telegraph was unable to verify either side’s claims.
The missile attack came after one of Kyiv’s most senior general suggested it was poised to launch a renewed counter-offensive to dislodge their Russian occupiers.
The Ukrainian military is preparing to hit back as early as the “early spring” when the ongoing Russian offensive is expected to be “completely exhausted”, Krylo Budanov, head of the HUR military intelligence agency, added.
“Some time in the early spring, Russia’s offensive will be completely exhausted,” Major-general Budanov said on Ukrainian television.
“We make a move, the enemy makes a move. Now is the enemy’s turn. It will end, and then ours will start,” he added, hinting at plans for a renewed Ukrainian counter-offensive against their occupiers.
The military spymaster has planned a series of covert raids and operations but is now amongst the front-runners to replace Ukraine’s top general.
He was named alongside General Oleksandr Syrsk, who is the the head of Ukraine’s ground forces, as Volodymyr Zelensky seeks to replace commander-in-chief General Valery Zaluzhny.