The images were taken over the Belbek airfield in occupied Crimea on 16 May, after two days of rocket attacks on the area.
Consequences of recent hits on the Belbek airfield in Crimea — satellite images
On 16 May, satellite images taken over the Belbek airfield in Crimea show the parking of Su-27, Su-30 and MiG-31 aircraft. The images from Maxar show that the MiG-31 and one Su-27 were completely destroyed.
З'явилися супутникові знімки аеродрому Бельбек у Криму після ракетного удару pic.twitter.com/MbEGd2HaOp
— Українська правда ✌️ (@ukrpravda_news) May 16, 2024
The extent of the damage and the number of damaged aircraft are difficult to determine precisely, since only the picture from May 1 is available for comparison.
Ukrainian sources unofficially wrote about the loss of three planes by Russia.
The photos also show that the fuel and lubricant depot of the airfield has completely burned down.
The New York Times investigator Christian Tribert published high-quality images of the aftermath of the attack on the Belbek airfield in Russian-occupied Crimea.
On @Maxar imagery, two MiG-31s and one Su-27 have been completely destroyed, and a MiG-29 damaged, at the Russian Air Force's Belbek Airbase in occupied Crimea. A fuel storage near the main airbase runway was also destroyed, and debris continued to burn in the aftermath. https://t.co/ZWflMYUFVw pic.twitter.com/80N56MRP2h
— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) May 16, 2024
Tribert suggests that two MiG-31s and one Su-27 were completely destroyed, and one MiG-29 was damaged. Damage to tanks with fuel and lubricants is also confirmed.
What is known about the explosions at the Belbek airfield
On May 15, powerful explosions rang out in Russian-occupied Sevastopol. The Russians said they allegedly repelled a missile attack near the Belbek airfield.
According to the head of the occupation authorities of Sevastopol Mykhailo Razvozhaev, air defence was allegedly working in Sevastopol. And all emergency services were put on alert.
Russian Telegram channels also reported that traffic on the Crimean Bridge was blocked.
Later, Razvozhaev stated that the Russian air defence system allegedly shot down 10 missiles over the water area and in the area of the Belbek airfield. Later, he reported that the rescuers seemed to have put out the fire from falling debris in the area of the village of Polyushko.
