According to Marko Eklund, the attack is a shock to Russia, which has imagined that Ukraine will not attack the bases located in Crimea.
18:43•Updated 18:55
Satellite images obtained by show that Ukraine has succeeded in causing great destruction at an airbase in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Large explosions were seen at the Saky air base on Tuesday, the cause of which is believed to be an attack by the Ukrainian armed forces.
According to Ukraine, nine Russian planes were destroyed in Saky on Tuesday. A Russian expert who analyzed satellite images at ‘s request Marko Eklund consider estimates to be realistic.
Among the destroyed planes are at least Su-24 attack planes and Su-30 fighters.
– More important than the exact numbers, however, is the fact that the Ukrainians were able to make such a successful attack on the Russian air base, says Eklund.
According to Eklund, the attack is the main clue to the fact that Ukraine carries out far-reaching attacks. According to him, it must have come as a big shock to the Russian armed forces.
Russian or Soviet fighter planes have not suffered such large losses once in the entire post-World War II period.
Major evp Eklund has followed the Russian armed forces for more than 20 years and served as Finland’s deputy defense representative in Moscow between 2018 and 2021.
Eklund: “Increases the attacker’s uncertainty”
According to Eklund, the moral impact of the attack is great.
– It increases uncertainty in the attacker’s ranks and limits the attacker’s freedom of action in an area it has considered its own and apparently safe, says Eklund.
Military experts have presented varying estimates of the extent of the destruction on social media. Eklund points out that not all blackened areas visible in satellite images are traces of an explosion or fire.
– A characteristic of the Russian aviation industry is that the platform wants to get soot at the launch points of its products, says Eklund.
Russia has denied that its planes were damaged or destroyed. According to Russia, the simultaneous explosions seen at the base on Tuesday were caused by an accident.
However, according to Eklund, the explosions show that Russia’s explanation for an accident is not true.
– Unless we start from the fact that this whole war started by Russia has been one miserable accident for all its parties, says Eklund.
Ukraine has not officially acknowledged that it carried out an attack on Crimea and has not explained what weapon was used in it.
The aviation regiment exceptionally belonged to the Black Sea Fleet
According to Eklund, since 2014, the 43rd Separate Maritime Assault Aviation Regiment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet has been stationed at the Saky Air Base.
Insofar as the base is an exception, only a small part of the air bases fall under the navy.
The regiment’s combat aircraft fleet includes, among other things, Su-24M attack aircraft and its reconnaissance versions. The plane is a rotary wing, and the angle of the wings is adjusted according to the flight speed.
In addition, the regiment has included Su-30SM multirole fighters, which are capable of operating with their weapon systems against air and ground targets.
The formation means that the regiment is able to protect its own air divisions with air combat-capable fighters without having to coordinate cooperation with an actual fighter regiment.
The naval air forces of the Baltic Sea Fleet also have a similarly equipped attack aviation regiment in Kaliningrad.
The base has simulated the use of an aircraft carrier
The base has had an upward-swinging jumper, from the end of which the planes took off like from the deck of a carrier.
Eklund says that the Russians do not use an American-style steam catapult to assist takeoff, but to achieve sufficient airspeed, the support ship drives hard enough against the wind and at the end of the acceleration, the planes jump from the nose of the jumper like golden eagles.
The location of the training site is still visible on the satellite image as a red painted area on the southern edge of the base. It is modeled after the dimensions of an aircraft carrier named Admiral Kuznetsov.
Ukraine has not had its own aircraft carriers and so the place was rented to Russia until 2014. After the annexation of Crimea, Russia has used the training center as if it were its own.