Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said it carried out a coordinated overnight strike on Russian military assets in occupied Crimea, targeting naval and air defence infrastructure in Sevastopol and at the Belbek airfield.
The SBU said the strikes were aimed at key components of Russia’s military capability in Crimea, including naval forces, aviation, reconnaissance systems, and air defence infrastructure.
The operation was conducted by the SBU’s “Alpha” special forces, according to a statement released on 26 April.
Strikes on Russian naval base in Sevastopol
The SBU said drones struck a series of Russian Black Sea Fleet assets at the Sevastopol naval base, including three vessels: the landing ships Yamal and Filchenkov, and the reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs.
Most of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has already been forced to relocate from occupied Crimea to the Russian port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea coast. The move followed repeated Ukrainian strikes that exposed the vulnerability of naval assets in Sevastopol and other Crimean bases, reducing Russia’s ability to operate safely from the peninsula.
The agency also said it hit a naval training centre and radar and air defence-related infrastructure, including a radar station identified as MR-10M1 “Mis-M1”.
Damage reported at Belbek airfield
Separately, the SBU said it struck the Belbek military airfield, also in occupied Crimea, damaging technical facilities and an aircraft.
According to the statement, a MiG-31 fighter jet was among the targets hit, along with elements of the airfield’s operational and maintenance infrastructure.
Focus on degrading Russian fleet, aviation and air defence
“These are not only direct losses of equipment, but also a degradation of the enemy’s ability to control the battlespace and plan further attacks,” acting SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk said.
He added that such operations would continue as long as Russia maintains its war against Ukraine.
Crimea as Russia’s key military hub
Crimea has remained under Russian occupation since 2014 and has been heavily militarised, serving as a major base for the Black Sea Fleet, air operations, and surveillance systems used in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Kyiv has repeatedly described the peninsula as a launch platform for missile strikes and naval operations, making it a recurring target for Ukrainian attacks aimed at degrading Russian military capacity in the region.
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