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2022 Saky air base attack

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2022 Saky air base attack
Part of the Crimea attacks (2022–present) during the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Smoke rising from Saky airbase on 9 August 2022
Date9 August 2022
Location
Novofedorivka, AR Crimea, Ukraine (occupied by Russia)
Result At least 10 Russian military aircraft destroyed or damaged
Belligerents
 Russia  Ukraine
Casualties and losses

According to independent observers:

  • At least 7 military aircraft destroyed and 3–4 damaged

According to the MoD of the Russian Federation:

None

2022 Saky air base attack was an event during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when several large explosions occurred at the Saky airbase in the town of Novofedorivka, Crimea, on 9 August 2022.[1] The military base was seized by Russian forces during the 2014 annexation of Crimea, part of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The explosions destroyed a number of Russian warplanes and caused substantial other damage. Ukrainian authorities tacitly took responsibility at first, until four weeks after the event, when Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's military commander, explicitly said that it had been a Ukrainian missile strike.[2]

The Saky airbase was also struck on 21 September 2023.[3]

Events

[edit]

A series of explosions occurred at Saky airbase on 9 August 2022. Initial reports were of four explosions. Later reports were of six or seven explosions, then up to 15, with reports that it sounded like ammunition detonating.[4]

Russian authorities declared a state of emergency and yellow-alert level of terrorist threat, but claimed the explosions were the result of an accident, and said one person was killed, over a dozen injured, and 252 residents moved to temporary shelter due to damage to apartment blocks.[5][6] On 10 August, the occupying authorities in Crimea announced that the number of people injured had increased to 13, and one person had died.[7] On 12 August 2022, Anton Herashchenko, an advisor to Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrsky, claimed that 60 pilots and technicians had been killed and 100 people wounded in the explosions.[8]

Ukrainian authorities did not explicitly take responsibility for the attack initially, but the General Staff of the Armed Forces said on 10 August that they had destroyed nine Russian planes in the preceding 24 hours.[6] The Ukrainian Air Force said that 9 Russian aircraft were destroyed at the airbase.[9]

Satellite images of the airbase before and after the explosions were released by Planet Labs on 10 August. The images showed significant damage to the base, with at least four large craters of similar size.[10][nb 1]

Outcomes

[edit]

The satellite images revealed at least eight aircraft, including Su-24 and Su-30, destroyed on the apron.[11][12] According to Oryx group researchers, the images showed the losses as:[13][14]

  • 5 Su-24
  • 3 Su-30SM
  • 2 Su-24 damaged
  • 1 Su-30SM damaged

According to the non-governmental Ukrainian Military Center:[15]

  • 4 Su-24
  • 3 Su-30SM
  • 3 Su-24s damaged
  • 1 Su-30SM damaged


Of civil infrastructure, 62 high-rise buildings, 20 commercial facilities, and private houses were damaged. Many tourists left Crimea for Russia, and a Russian state media tourism website boasted of a record number of cars crossing the Crimean Bridge on 15 August.[16]

Cause

[edit]

Shortly after the explosions, a senior Ukrainian military official said anonymously that Ukraine was responsible. The official would not say what type of weapon was used, but that it was "a device exclusively of Ukrainian manufacture".[17][18]

Within a day of the explosions, a senior Ukrainian military official said anonymously that special forces and partisans were responsible.[5][18] Former military operatives and analysts said that it was unlikely that individuals on the ground carried out the attack. According to Chuck Pfarrer, former squadron leader of SEAL Team Six, "The craters visible in satellite photos are 10 meters across ... each is consistent with the explosion of at least 500 pounds of C4. No Special Forces team is going to drag a ton of C4 to a target when two ounces would be sufficient to destroy an aircraft".[18]

Commentators speculated about various possible causes, with some assuming Ukraine had fired the American-made MGM-140 ATACMS missile, despite the claim that the weapon used was Ukrainian made,[19] and despite U.S. denials that they had supplied ATACMS to Ukraine.[18] There was speculation that Ukraine fired the Hrim-2 ballistic missile, which they had been developing for years, but many doubted it was ready for use or had a suitable GPS guidance system. Another possibility was the Ukrainian-made R-360 Neptune anti-ship cruise missile, but there were doubts about its accuracy in land-based targeting, plus the fact that a relatively slow moving cruise missile would probably have been observed, which did not happen. Some commentators suggested small loitering munitions, relying on their small warheads setting off large secondary explosions by hitting stored fuel or munitions.[19]

On 7 September 2022, Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said that it had been a missile strike by Ukraine.[2][20]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Some reports count only three of the craters.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Triebert, Christiaan (9 August 2022). "Explosion Rocks Russian Air Base in Crimea". The New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b Sands, Leo (7 September 2022). "Saky airfield: Ukraine claims Crimea blasts responsibility after denial". BBC News. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Ukraine Strikes At Russian Airbase In Crimea". Yahoo News. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Біля авіабази росіян у Криму пролунали потужні вибухи" [Powerful explosions rang out near the Russian air base in Crimea]. 24 Channel (in Ukrainian). 9 August 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  5. ^ a b Schwirtz, Michael (10 August 2022). "Ukraine Live Updates: Damage in Air Base Blasts Appears Worse Than Russia Claimed". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv says nine Russian planes destroyed in past 24 hours – live". The Guardian. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  7. ^ "У Криму кількість постраждалих від вибуху на авіабазі зросла до 13 осіб. У Новофедоріці надзвичайний стан". babel.ua (in Ukrainian). 10 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  8. ^ Bigg, Matthew Mpoke (12 August 2022). "A Ukrainian official's account of the Crimea explosions further contradicts Russia's". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Втрачені Росією минулої доби 9 літаків було знищено ударом по аеродрому в Криму, - Повітряні сили ЗСУ" [9 planes lost by Russia yesterday were destroyed by a strike on the airfield in Crimea – Air Force of the AFU]. espreso.tv (in Ukrainian). 10 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  10. ^ Trevithick, Joseph (10 August 2022). "Widespread destruction seen after blasts at Russian base in Crimea". The Warzone. The Drive. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Satellite photos contradict Russia's account of damage by explosions at a base in Crimea". New York Times. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  12. ^ "Russian warplanes destroyed in Crimea airbase attack, satellite images show". The Guardian. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  13. ^ "З'явились супутникові знімки знищених російських літаків у Криму" [Satellite images of destroyed Russian planes in Crimea have appeared]. espreso.tv (in Ukrainian). 10 August 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  14. ^ Oryx. "List of Aircraft Losses During the Russian Invasion of Ukraine". Oryx. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  15. ^ Safronov, Taras (11 August 2022). "Розгром аеродрому "Саки": хронологія і втрати" ["Saki" airfield destruction: chronology and losses]. Mil.in.ua. Ukrainian Military Center.
  16. ^ "Explosions in Crimea: record traffic jam on Kerch bridge". Ukrainska Pravda. Yahoo! news. 16 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  17. ^ Schwirtz, Michael (9 August 2022). "Explosions rip through Russian base on Crimea". The New York Times – via ProQuest.
  18. ^ a b c d Weiss, Michael; Rushton, James (21 August 2022). "Why Ukraine probably has long-range missiles". Yahoo News. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  19. ^ a b Hambling, David (11 August 2022). "How did Ukraine destroy so many Russian aircraft at that Crimean airbase?". Forbes. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  20. ^ Zaluzhnyi, Valeriy; Zabrodskyi, Mykhailo (7 September 2022). "Prospects for running a military campaign in 2023: Ukraine's perspective". Ukrinform. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
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