Russia is likely to disperse its air force in Crimea to prevent further Ukrainian attacks.
This is stated in a secret NATO report dated August 22, which was at the disposal of Business Insider.
According to the document, the Russian armed forces have already transferred 10 fighters – six Su-35s and four MiG-31s - from Crimea to avoid further aircraft losses.
At the same time, the report notes, the Crimean Belbek near Sevastopol remains “the most important Russian airfield for providing air support in southern Ukraine and over the Black Sea.” According to NATO, there are still about 32 fighters at this airfield. Mostly Su-27, but also Su-35S and MiG-31BM.
In addition, according to NATO, Russia has increased the number of tactical surface-to-air missiles in Crimea to counter Ukrainian attacks, in particular with the help of drones.
Since the beginning of August, explosions and drone attacks have been repeatedly reported in Crimea. So, on August 9, a series of explosions occurred at the Saki military airfield near the village of Novofedorovka.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the “detonation of several aviation munitions” at the Saki airfield, the cause of which was a violation of fire safety requirements. Damage to aviation equipment in the department denied.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the day after the explosions at the Saki airfield reported the destruction of nine Russian aircraft per day. Officially, the Ukrainian side did not take responsibility for the explosions at the Saki airfield.
The American company Planet Labs has published photographs of airfields that showed signs of destruction. According to Western intelligence, as a result of the attack on August 9, Russia lost half of the combat aircraft of the naval aviation of the Black Sea Fleet.
Source: Racurs
