After the explosions in Crimea, Russian troops began to move their aircraft from the peninsula.
Business Insider writes about this with reference to a secret NATO report.
According to a NATO report dated August 22, "Russia is likely to withdraw its air force from Crimea to prevent further attacks from Ukraine."
The report also states that the Russian Federation has already transferred ten of its fighter jets from Crimea to Russian territory to prevent further losses. We are talking about six SU-35S fighters and four MiG-31BM interceptors.
Despite these maneuvers, the Crimean Belek airfield near Sevastopol remains "Russiaʼs most important airfield for providing air support in southern Ukraine and over the Black Sea," NATO intelligence officials write.
About 32 Russian fighter jets are still stationed there. These are mostly SU-27s, but there are also a small number of modern SU-35S and MiG-31BMs.
In addition, NATO reports that Russia has also increased the number of its tactical surface-to-air missiles in Crimea to counter further attacks by Ukraine.
"Ukrainian UAVs are difficult for Russian air defense systems to detect as targets. This is the problem of all the forces that Russia is deploying in Ukraine," NATO notes.
- On August 9, explosions rang out at the airbase in Novofedorivka, near Saky. There, the explosions destroyed the ammunition and aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation. The Washington Post wrote that the explosions could have been carried out by Ukrainian special forces.
- On the morning of August 16, the Ministry of Defense of Russia reported a detonation at the temporary ammunition storage site in the village of Maiske, Dzhankoy district. The explosion also damaged the railway, which carries trains from Russia to Crimea.
- The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense has already reported that Russian troops, after the explosions in Crimea , began to move their aircraft deep into the peninsula and into the territory of the Russian Federation. In total, the flight of at least 24 planes and 14 helicopters was recorded.