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Ukraine claims it destroyed Russian fighter jets in Crimea
In a statement, it said it had struck a military aviation depot, "completely" destroying one Su-30, damaging another, and also damaging three Su-24 jet bombers.
In another operation against the Russian military, Ukraine's domestic security service said on Monday that it destroyed one Russian jet fighter and damaged four other military aircraft in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Based on the statement from the SBU, Ukrainian drones destroyed a Su-30SM aircraft, damaged another, hit three Su-24s, and struck an aviation weapons depot.
The Su-30MS is a twin-engine, two-seat multirole fighter aircraft developed by Russia and the the Su-24 is a twin-engine, all-weather supersonic strike bomber developed by the Soviet Union. Both aircraft are used for regular attacks on Ukraine.
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As per Kyiv Independent, the fighter jets are also used for patrols, radar surveillance, target guidance, and escorting long-range aircraft.
"The enemy suffered significant losses. After all, just one Su-30SM aircraft can cost an average of $35 to $50 million. As a result of a special operation by the Central Operational Command "A" of the SBU, an aviation weapons depot was also hit at the airfield," the official statement from the SBU read.
"The successful special operation carried out by the SBU in Saki marks another step toward weakening the enemy's capacity to wage its war of aggression against Ukraine," the statement added further.
As per the SBU, the Saky airbase in Crimea was chosen due to the crucial role its holds for Russia during the Ukraine war and Russian operations in the Black Sea.
This attack on Russian military operations comes months after Ukraine's SBU launched Operation Spider's Web and targeted over 40 Russian bombers at the Olenya and Belaya airbases.
During the May operation, an SBU official told Kyiv Independent that the agency hit over 40 aircraft, including the A-50, Tu-95 and Tu-22 M3.
Russia is yet to comment on the fresh strikes in Crimea.
