Russia lost more planes in Crimea in one day than in the entire time since the Second World War – CNN
Russia produces only 10-20 aircraft per year, so losing 9 at once is a lot
The explosions at the Saki airfield in Crimea caused perhaps the most damage to Russian combat aircraft in decades. CNN writes about it. Satellite images of the American company Planet Labs, taken before and after the strike on the air base, confirm the destruction of at least 7 Russian planes, CNN notes.
According to The New York Times, which refers to the same photos, at least 8 planes have become unfit for further use. They are in a charred form in an open parking lot next to burnt earth and many craters grouped in one place. Two buildings near the planes, including Su-30 and Su-24, were completely destroyed.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, 9 planes were destroyed, at least 60 people died at the airfield, and about 100 pilots and technicians were injured.
August 9, 2022 can claim to be the worst day for Russian aviation since the Second World War, writes CNN: after 1945, there is no such large one-time loss of aircraft in one day in the USSR or Russia.
It will take at least a year for the Russian military-industrial complex, which was under sanctions, to compensate for its losses, military analyst Pavlo Luzin comments for The Moscow Times.
“In a year, Russia produces 10-20 aircraft, the destruction of 9 at a time is a serious loss,” he says. – Currently, Russia has only about 120 SU-30s and only a few SU-20s. There are only a few IL-20s, and now there is no way to make more of them.”
The attack on the air base was carried out by missiles from the territory of Ukraine, the preparation of the operation could take more than a month, Luzin believes:
“In order to carry out such an attack, serious preparation is required: to understand exactly where the ammunition is stored, to study the route of approach of the planes to the air base, to study how the air defense system of the airfield works. The blow could have been delivered, for example, by anti-ship missiles “Neptune” or “Harpoon” – moreover, they could be attached to the plane and hit from the air, but most likely they were hit from the ground.”
A high-ranking Ukrainian military official told The New York Times a few hours later that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were behind the attack on the Russian military airfield in Novofedorivka. Official Kyiv did not make a statement about the involvement of its army in the event.
From the airfield, support was provided to the part of the Russian troops that is holding the occupied Kherson. Now, according to Luzin, the Russian army will use the Sevastopol airfield, which increases the flight path and approach time.
“Destruction of the airbase is a planned step to return Kherson to Ukraine,” says the expert. – The Armed Forces are gradually and imperceptibly advancing: somewhere they are cleaning up air defense, now they have destroyed the airbase, clearing the way for their aviation.”
