Russians are taking aircraft from forward airfields in Crimea and moving them deep into the peninsula and the Russian Federation, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate has said.
"Such activity has been noted following a series of explosions at military infrastructure facilities on the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula, including at the Saky (9 August) and Hvardiyske (16 August) airfields. At least 24 aircraft and 14 helicopters changed place," the intelligence said.
Thus, on 11 August, five Su-27/30 planes from the 38th Fighter Air Regiment (Belbek) and five Su-34 planes from the 559th Bomber Air Regiment (Morozovsk) flew to the Hvardiyske airfield.
Three KA-27 helicopters each arrived in Khersones and Sevastopol on 17 August, and eight more helicopters were sent to Krasnodar.
Aircraft from the Belbek airfield were now spotted flying to airfields on Russian territory:
- three Su-35S aircraft from the 23rd Fighter Air Regiment (Dzemgi) of the 303 Combined Aviation Division (ZmAD) of the 11th Army to Primorsko-Akhtarsk;
- three Su-34 aircraft from the 559th Bomber Air Regiment (Morozovsk) of the 1st ZmAD of the 4th Army to Primorsko-Akhtarsk;
- five Su-27/Z0SM aircraft from the 38th Fighter Air Regiment (Belbek) of the 27th ZmAD of the 4th Army to Krymsk;
- an aircraft, probably a MiG-31, to Gelendzhik;
- two aircraft, probably MiG-31, to Kushchevsk.
During the flight, one of the MiG-31s had a fire on board. The probable cause was said to be a fire in the main propulsion unit and navigation equipment.
Explosions at a military airbase in the Crimean village of Hvardiyske (Simferopol District) took place on 16 August.
On 9 August, there were explosions near the military airfield in Novofedorivka in occupied Crimea.