Storm Shadow hit the target for which it was created: the reserve command post of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Verkhniosadovyi
Storm Shadow is actually specialized in defeating highly protected targets, and even the underground command post of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is not much different for it than Gaddafi’s personal bunker, which it destroyed in 2012.
Ukraine has struck again at the occupiers in Crimea, targeting one of Russia’s military facilities in the village of Verkhniosadove.
Video from the scene shows quite thick smoke rising on a mountain north of the village. Prior to that, local residents were able to video the flight of Storm Shadow or SCALP cruise missiles. At the same time, the local occupation authorities have already reported that it was just a small grass fire.
And despite the fact that some Telegram channels have already reported that it is most likely a Russian radio engineering military unit that was hit, there is a much more tasty target near Verkhniosadove – a protected reserve command post of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. This is the only known military facility near this settlement.
This command post was established during the Soviet era, in Ukraine it was known as the ZCC of the Ukrainian Navy, military unit A-2929, and was one of the first to be captured during the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, renamed the 744th Communications Center of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Command.
The command center itself consists of a number of above-ground buildings and a sophisticated system of antennas to ensure communication with the fleet and higher headquarters, as well as a significant underground part. And of course, Ukraine is well aware of the exact location of the bunkers.
And despite the security of this kind of object, Storm Shadow is the target for which it was created. The fact is that the 450-kg warhead of a missile consists of a leading charge that forms a hole and the main fragmentation part that explodes in the middle.
And it was Storm Shadow that was used among the first to strike key protected Iraqi targets in 2003, hit a Gaddafi bunker in 2012 in Libya, a chemical munitions plant in Syria in 2018, and an ISIS cave complex in Iraq in 2021. That is, these missiles can really destroy extremely protected objects.
But in addition to the exact coordinates and the means, an effective strike requires knowing the exact time of the strike, because simply hitting an object or hitting it while high-ranking officials are inside is different. And in this situation, we can only hope that all three factors have come together.
The latter is also evidenced by the fact that, according to the available information from the Crimean Wind Telegam channel, a convoy of fire trucks and ambulances has been sent to the Verkhniosadove area.
A few hours after the publication, speculation about the exact target of the strike was officially confirmed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces StratCom.
