Ukraine says satellite images show the destruction of a Russian warehouse used to launch Iranian-made drones and train cadets.
The photos – released by the Ukrainian navy – follow reports of a massive explosion near a Russian airfield in the southern Krasnodar region.
Moscow has not yet commented on the reports, but said it had shot down a number of drones in the region overnight on Friday.
Navy officials in kyiv said a number of instructors and cadets learning to use the Iranian-made Shahed drones were killed by the attack, which they said occurred on Friday evening.
In a message posted on Telegram, Navy officials in kyiv said the operation was planned and carried out in partnership with Ukrainian intelligence agencies.
The base was located on the Sea of Azov, opposite the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to data from Planet Labs – the American company that took the photos –.
“New satellite images confirm the destruction on the night of June 21 of the Shahed-136/Geran-2 storage and preparation facilities, training buildings, control and communication points of these drones located in the territory of Krasnodar,” navy officials wrote in a statement. to Facebook.
Photos posted on social media appeared to show two large warehouses with a north-south road passing through them on April 11. Subsequent photos taken on Saturday showed one of the warehouses completely destroyed, with the other sustaining significant damage.
Russia announced Friday that it had shot down 114 drones during a Ukrainian attack on oil refineries and military targets in the south of the country. Officials said one person was killed by falling debris, but did not mention the attack on the drone base.
Separately, Russia said it held the United States responsible after a missile fired by Ukraine killed at least four people in occupied Crimea, including two children.
Local Russian officials said more than 140 other people needed treatment for shock and shrapnel injuries when missile fragments hit a crowded Uchkuyevka beach, near the city of Sevastopol.
The Russian Defense Ministry said four of the five projectiles were destroyed by air defenses, but debris from the interceptions fell on coastal areas. Officials said the attack used U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles and that U.S. specialists set the coordinates for the strike.
Separately, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said new Ukrainian drone attacks on Sunday night left one person dead and three others injured.
Vyacheslav Gladkov said one of the drones destroyed a parking lot in Graivoron, about six kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Meanwhile, officials in kyiv said two people were injured and many residential buildings were damaged in a Russian missile and drone attack on the Ukrainian capital on Saturday evening.
Ruslan Kravchenko, head of the Kyiv regional administration, said the people were injured by falling debris. He noted that six towers, 20 private houses and several shops were damaged in the attack.
The Ukrainian Air Force said it destroyed two of three missiles launched by Russia towards the kyiv region.
During his nighttime speech from the capital, President Volodymyr Zelensky once again renewed his call for Western countries to provide new air defenses to Ukraine, specifically calling for American-made Patriot systems.
“Ukraine needs the forces and means to destroy the carriers of these bombs, especially Russian combat aircraft, wherever they are,” he said.
