Ukrainian special forces from the National Guard's "Omega" Center destroyed a Russian Su-24M frontline bomber in occupied Crimea, the National Guard announced on 17 July. The unit said the aircraft was preparing for a combat mission against Ukrainian territory when its drones struck.
The first drone hit the Su-24M's nose section, the second struck the fuel tanks, destroying the aircraft, according to the Omega unit's account. There was no independent confirmation of the strike, and Russian officials had not commented on damage at Saky by the time the unit posted its claim.
The claimed strike fits a broader Ukrainian effort to make Russian air operations from occupied Crimea increasingly costly. Repeated drone attacks on Saky have forced Moscow to defend rear airbases once considered beyond Ukraine's reach while risking aircraft used in strikes on southern Ukraine.
Combat divers, now flying drones 200 kilometers deep
The detail that distinguishes the operation is the unit behind it. Omega is the National Guard's special-purpose center, and the strike was carried out by its combat divers—naval special operators—using strike drones against a target deep in occupied territory.
Ukraine's National Guard has increasingly fielded long-range strike drones through its assault corps, including the "Azov" and "Khartiia" Corps, which the command says now operate at ranges exceeding 100 kilometers against Russian logistics, ammunition depots, command posts, air defenses, and aircrafts
Saky's month under fire
The strike is the latest in a sustained campaign against Saky, one of Russia's main aviation hubs in occupied Crimea, from which aircraft launch missile and guided-bomb attacks on southern Ukraine. Ukraine's Security Service struck the airfield on 24 June, again on 3 July, when it reported at least seven aircraft destroyed or damaged. Saky hosts Su-24 tactical bombers and Su-30SM fighters and lies roughly 200 kilometers from the nearest Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Each Su-24M strike removes an aircraft Russia uses to bomb southern Ukraine—and forces Moscow to divert more resources to defending its rear airbases against a threat that now comes from multiple Ukrainian services, using cheap drones, at growing depth.
