Ukraine war: Crimea airbase badly damaged, satellite images show
Satellite images appear to show major damage and a number of destroyed Russian warplanes at a Crimea airbase following explosions there this week.
The Saky base in the west of Russian-ruled Crimea was rocked by a string of blasts on Tuesday, killing one person.
The base’s runways appear intact, but at least eight aircraft seem damaged or destroyed with several craters visible.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility – but this new evidence suggests the possibility of a targeted attack.
The images, from the US-based Planet Labs, show large areas of scorched earth left from fires that erupted.
Most of the damaged or destroyed aircraft are in a specific area of the base where a large number of planes were parked out in the open – away from the cover of hangars.
The before and after images from Planet Labs, which monitors hundreds of satellite feeds over Ukraine, are the first independent confirmation that the base may have been damaged. Until now, details about the extent of the explosions’ impact have been scarce.
But it is still not clear how the base was damaged or by what.