War In Ukraine Has Severely Destroyed Crimea's Airbase, Satellite Images Hints

Satellite images hints major damage and a number of destroyed Russian warplanes at a Crimea airbase, following explosions there this week. Tuesday's explosions at the Saky facility in the western part of the Crimean peninsula under Russian control left one person dead.The base's runways look to be in good condition, but at least eight aircraft appear to be wrecked or damaged, and several craters are evident.

Although Ukraine has not admitted guilt, this additional information raises the prospect of a targeted strike. The photographs, which were taken by the US-based Planet Labs, reveal huge tracts of charred earth. The majority of the damaged or destroyed planes are concentrated in a particular region of the base where many aircraft were parked in the open, away from the protection of hangars. The first independent proof that the site may have been damaged comes from Planet Labs, which keeps track of hundreds of satellite feeds over Ukraine. There haven't been many specifics up until now on how much of an impact the explosions had.

However, it is still unclear how or by what the base was harmed. Russia believes that the fire safety regulations were disregarded, which led to munitions exploding in a store and causing the explosions. Although its defence minister stated that irresponsible Russian soldiers may be to blame, Ukraine has not officially admitted guilt.

Oleksiy Reznikov declared, "I believe that Russian military personnel at this airbase broke their very clear-cut rule: don't smoke in risky areas. That's it, then. Although Russia denied any aircraft had been damaged, the Ukrainian air force claimed that roughly a dozen Russian fighters had been destroyed. These fresh pictures imply such is not the case.