Satellite Images indicate explosions destroyed Russian jets

Kremlin has said no planes were lost in the blasts, which it attributed to detonating ammunition.

The Saki airbase on August 10 after the blasts. Picture: Maxar Technologies via AFP

Satellite images of the Russian air base in Crimea hit by explosions show several destroyed war planes, contradicting Russia’s ­account that no planes were lost.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late on Wednesday that Russia lost nine combat aircraft in Crimea.

Officials in Kyiv have mocked Russia but not taken responsibility for the blasts.

“The more losses the occupiers suffer, the sooner we will be able to liberate our land,” Mr Zelensky said.

Satellite images, made public by Planet Labs and Maxar Technologies, show the Saki air base in Novofedorivka before and after Tuesday’s blasts.

The later images show several damaged or destroyed planes in uncovered parking bays surrounded by charred grass.

Oryx, a website that verifies destroyed equipment using photos and videos, assessed that four Su-30SM fighters were destroyed, along with five Su-24M strike planes and Su-24MR ­reconnaissance craft.

Russia’s defence ministry said the blasts were caused by exploding ammunition and that there was no shelling of any kind aimed at the base. Aircraft stationed there were undamaged, it said.

Ukrainian officials told their American counterparts that US-provided weapons and equipment weren’t used in Crimea.

The explosions have provided a morale boost to Ukraine, which ceded the peninsula, home of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, to ­Moscow’s troops in 2014 with barely a shot fired. Russia bolstered its military forces in ­Crimea, considered beyond the reach of Ukrainian weapons, and used it to launch an assault on Ukraine’s south in February. Ukraine is seeking to retake territory to the north of Crimea after months of losses in military personnel and territory in the country’s east.

Ukrainian officials continued to taunt Russia over the incident on Thursday, suggesting more could follow. “Unless they want an unpleasantly hot summer break, we advise our valued Russian guests not to visit Ukrainian Crimea,” the defence ministry tweeted.

The Institute for the Study of War said in an assessment that Russian officials appeared confused about how the Ukrainians struck so deep behind the frontlines. “Ukrainian officials are playing up the evident Russian confusion surrounding the attack to obfuscate Ukraine’s longer-range capabilities, ” the Washington-based think tank said. Amid the hostilities, a ship set to carry a cargo of grain to Ethiopia ­departed for Ukraine on Thursday under a UN-backed deal with Russia and Turkey to resume Ukrainian exports and address global food shortages.

The Brave Commander is ­expected to arrive in Ukraine on Friday and load 23,000 tonnes of grain. Twelve ships carrying more than 375,000 tons of grain have departed Ukraine since August 1. Two other inbound ships have ­arrived in Ukrainian ports but are yet to depart.

If the ship reaches Ethiopia, it would be the first to depart Ukraine and reach a poorer ­nation since the launch of the grain deal. Most of the ships that have left Odesa in August are carrying grain for wealthier nations such as Britain, China and Turkey. Another ship was turned away from Lebanon this week after the buyers cancelled the transaction.

The Wall Street Journal