The day before, on 23 August, the Ukrainian Navy's Neptune cruise missile destroyed important Russian targets - the Podlet radar and the S-400 launcher, according to the editor-in-chief of Censor.NET, Yuriy Butusov.
The facilities in question are the 48Ya6-K1 air reconnaissance radar and the 5P85SM2-0 launcher of the S-400 Triumph air defence system.
"Podlet is the eyes of Triumph, the radar provides airspace surveillance for both low-altitude targets and ballistic missiles, and is a key component of the Russian Armed Forces' air and missile defence. According to Censor.Net's sources, the Ukrainian Navy intelligence received accurate information on the location of the S-400 positioning area near the village of Olenivka in the temporarily occupied Crimea," Butusov said.
He added that the Russian radar provided control over the air situation over the western part of the Black Sea and over the territory of Kherson Region from a distance of approximately 110 km from the front line.
"The Navy selected a new cruise missile of the Neptune surface-to-air missile system to hit the S-400 position, and programmed the route and flight characteristics to bypass Russian surveillance systems. One Neptune missile at an ultra-low altitude went undetected and precisely destroyed part of the Triumph battalion, despite the large Russian air defence forces concentrated in occupied Kherson Region and Crimea," the journalist said.
The results of the attack were recorded by a Ukrainian intelligence drone that flew far behind the Russian lines.
Butusov noted that during the war, Russia continues to supply Triumph air defence systems and Podlet radars to Turkey and India under old contracts.
According to the journalist, the Neptune missile modification was developed in accordance with the decision of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyy on 15 March 2022. The work was carried out in record-short time, and the missile is being tested in combat.
The day before, Ukrainian intelligence reported an explosion that destroyed the Russian long- and medium-range S-400 Triumph air defence system. The explosion completely destroyed the system itself, the missiles and personnel installed on it.
The Main Intelligence Directorate stated that given the limited number of such systems in service with the occupiers, this is a painful blow to Russia's air defence system, which will have a serious impact on further developments in occupied Crimea.
Last year, a Neptune missile sank the Russian cruiser Moskva.