The spokesman for the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Yuriy Ihnat, said during a telethon that at least three Russian aircraft and personnel were hit at the Belbek airfield in Crimea during the attack by the Defence Forces on 31 January, Ukrinform reports.
"The best confirmation is satellite images where you can see something. But even better confirmation is the obituaries in Russian media, the fact that they admit and publish information about the defeat, at least three planes were there, then some personnel were killed," Ihnat said.
Today Russian media reported that during the Ukrainian Armed Forces' strike on the Belbek airbase on 31 January, the Russian squadron commander, Lieutenant General Alexander Tatarenko, and 10 servicemen were killed. Southern Defence Forces spokeswoman Nataliya Humenyuk said today that she had no confirmation of Tatarenko's death.
On 31 January, the commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, confirmed a strike on the territory of the Belbek airfield in the temporarily occupied Crimea.