Ukraine claims to have destroyed Russian command center in Crimea

Ukrainian officials say their military has carried out an airstrike that destroyed a Russian command center at Saky airport on the Crimean peninsula.

In a post on social network X on January 6, Ukrainian government adviser Anton Gerashchenko said the air force "has taken methodical steps" to destroy the Russian military's "control system" in the Crimean peninsula.

Smoke rises from a shipyard hit by a missile in Sevastopol, Crimea, last September. Photo: Reuters — Smoke rises from a shipyard hit by a missile in Sevastopol, Crimea, last September. Photo: *Reuters*

"Over the past few days, the Ukrainian air force has carried out a number of successful strikes on enemy targets in Crimea," he said.

Accordingly, the Ukrainian air force is said to have launched an airstrike on Saky airport in the west of the Crimean peninsula. This base is home to the 43rd Fighter Regiment of the Russian air force, supporting the Russian army in the region and equipped with Sukhoi Su-24 bombers.

The last time Ukraine attacked the Saky airport was in 2022, destroying several Russian aircraft. According to Gerashchenko, the Saky airport is where Russia has the Nitka complex for training pilots and crew.

Russia has not commented on the information. The Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had intercepted 36 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) approaching the Crimean peninsula on January 5 and another over the southern city of Krasnodar.

Ukraine has recently increased its deployment of missiles, UAVs and suicide boats to attack the Crimean peninsula, the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet, in order to weaken Russia's military capabilities and force its fleet to withdraw from the sea.

On December 26 last year, the Ukrainian Air Force announced that it had launched cruise missiles at the port of Feodosia in Crimea, destroying the large Russian landing ship Novocherkassk. In mid-November of the same year, Kiev also fired 15 missiles at the shipyard in the city of Kerch on the peninsula, damaging a ship. A Russian submarine and landing ship were also previously severely damaged in the attack on the port city of Sevastopol.

In his New Year's message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said one of his country's achievements in 2023 would be to blockade and damage the Russian navy in the Black Sea. "Large landing ships, missile corvettes and patrol boats of the enemy are lying on the seabed," he stressed.