Ukraine claims responsibility for attack on Crimea that destroyed Russia's Saki Airbase

Ukraine’s top military chief on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the strings of offensives launched at the Russian airbases in the 2014 Russia annexed territory of Crimea. Ukrainian commander General Valeriy Zaluzhniy and Mykhaylo Zabrodskiy, first deputy chairman of the parliamentary Committee on National Defense and Intelligence admitted in a report for the first time that the Ukrainian military was behind the missile strikes launched at the Saky air base in Crimea on August 9. 

Explosions after detonation of several Russian aviation ammunition stores

Russia’s Ministry of Defence had revealed at the briefing that the “detonation of several aviation ammunition stores” caused an explosion at the Saky airbase located on the west coast of the Crimean peninsula. No aviation equipment had been damaged in the blasts. There were at least 12 explosions that resonated around 3:20 pm local time (12:20 GMT) from the base near Novofedorivka that killed one and wounded eight others.

At the time, Russia's Dozhd online television channel speculated if Kyiv was responsible for the strikes. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had denied the allegation, saying: “Of course not. What do we have to do with this?”

In the newly published article co-authored by lawmaker Mykhailo Zabrodskyi on state news agency Ukrinform,  Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the Ukrainian army’s commander-in-chief, took responsibility for the missile attacks. The Ukrainian military had blamed Russian incompetence as the probable cause of the explosions.

In his nightly address, Ukraine's president Volofdymyr Zelenskyy had refrained from mentioning the attack, but added, “We will never give it up… the Black Sea region cannot be safe while Crimea is occupied." It was later confirmed that at least nine military aircraft, including Su-30SM fighters and Su-24M bombers belonging to the Russian Air force (VKS), were destroyed. Several buildings that were used as temporary arms depots were burnt down. The headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port of Sevastopol was also hit via drone causing significant military equipment damage. Saky air base was being used by invading Russian fighter pilots to launch attacks via warplanes in Ukraine’s south. 

Russia's state-affiliated press had denied the Ukrainian military's involvement in the missile strikes, as it cited an unnamed ministry source explaining that "a violation of fire safety requirements is considered as the main reason for the explosion of several ammunition stores at the Saky airfield."