Ukraine says satellite pictures show the destruction of a Russian warehouse used to launch Iranian-made drones and to train cadets.
The photos – posted by Ukraine’s Navy – follow reports of a massive explosion near a Russian airfield in the southern region of Krasnodar.
Moscow has yet to comment on the reports, but did say it has shot down a number of drones in the region overnight on Friday.
Navy officials in Kyiv said a number of training instructors and cadets learning to operate the Iranian-made Shahed drones were killed by the attack, which they said happened on Friday night.
In a post to Telegram, Navy officials in Kyiv said the operation was planned and conducted in partnership with Ukrainian intelligence agencies.
The base sat on the Sea of Azov opposite the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, data from Planet Labs – the US-based company who took the photos – showed.
“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 UAVs located in the Krasnodar Territory,” naval officials wrote in a post to Facebook.
The photos posted to social media appeared to show two large warehouses bisected by a road running north-south on 11 April. Subsequent photos taken on Saturday showed one of the warehouses completely destroyed, with the other having sustained significant damage.
Russia said on 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 that one person was killed by falling debris, but did not mention the attack on the drone base.
Credit: bbc.com
