Strikes on Military Targets in Crimea vs Russia’s Night Attack

March 24, 2024June 16, 2026

Russia launched a salvo of cruise missiles and Shahed drones against Ukraine overnight. However, compared to the AFU’s Strikes on Military Targets in Crimea, the attack looked remarkably unimpressive. According to preliminary information, a large number of Russian strategic bombers were preparing to launch. Yet what actually crossed into Ukrainian airspace was considerably smaller than advertised. Fifty-seven aerial weapons total: 29 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles and 28 Shahed strike drones. Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 43 of them this morning — 18 missiles and 25 drones.

Several more targets were suppressed by electronic warfare. That count may be revised upward later. Around 10 aerial targets were intercepted in the Kyiv area, two of them inside city limits — debris came down in two districts. In Desnyansky district it landed in a forest park; in Shevchenkivsky district it damaged the facade of a residential building.

Most of the aerial targets headed west, where air defenses were working hard — particularly around Lviv. At least one missile flew along the Polish border and by various accounts spent up to 30 seconds inside Polish airspace. Polish military command confirmed that fighter jets — both Polish and allied — were scrambled to intercept, but no aerial targets were shot down.

Meanwhile in Crimea

The enemy clearly wanted to put on something more impressive, but their available hardware only stretched to a limited raid with deeply questionable results. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces rolled a firestorm across temporarily occupied Crimea, with particular attention paid to Sevastopol. Local sources report hits on multiple military facilities, including two warships moored at the docks.

At least three missiles struck the Black Sea Fleet’s central communications hub. After that, it dropped out of the group chat. There are also reports of a hit on a military unit — possibly a Russian marine position. A local Telegram channel posted video showing a bright flash in the distance and the sound of a powerful explosion, with a caption identifying the target as Belbek airfield.

Translating the Russian Telegram post that followed — because it’s worth reading in full:

Tragic strike on Sevastopol. More than 30 military personnel killed, three aircraft damaged. As promised, here are the grim results of the large-scale missile strike on Sevastopol — what we’re able to report; some details we will withhold so as not to give the enemy useful information. According to sources in the Ministry of Defense and among military personnel in Sevastopol, the enemy hit a well-concealed command post where more than two dozen officers were present at the time of the strike.

Three Su-27 aircraft at Belbek airfield were also damaged by debris from intercepted missiles. One is seriously damaged; the other two will almost certainly be repaired. Enemy missiles additionally struck the position of our marines. Casualties are serious there. In total, 34 military personnel were killed in the attack — 11 of them officers. Around 40 more were wounded. How the enemy learned about these genuinely well-concealed military facilities is, of course, a rhetorical question. Unfortunately, the number of traitors in Sevastopol is not getting any smaller.

Ukrainian General Staff confirmation of the overnight strikes on military targets in Crimea:

Novofedorivka and Hvardiyske — Also Got Theirs

The extent of damage to the warships is still unknown, but one thing is certain: these were missile strikes, since the enemy said nothing about drones. That means the warheads were several times more powerful than what Ukrainian aerial drones currently carry. Either way, simultaneous hits on two large landing ships is already a jackpot — and the enemy itself confirms that Belbek airfield also received something worthwhile.

And there’s more. By now it’s tradition: whenever something flies over Crimea, at least one thing finds its way to the airfield at Novofedorivka. There’s a running theory that after Crimea’s de-occupation, this settlement will be renamed “Nova Chornobaivka”.

Then, toward morning, word came in about a hit on Hvardiyske. The settlement hosts a major air base and supporting infrastructure, including a large fuel depot. The depot confirmed the hit in the most obvious way possible: fire and smoke climbed high enough to be visible from more than ten kilometers away.

The enemy is processing all of this with unbearable gloom. They genuinely believed the “second army in the world” guaranteed an impenetrable air defense umbrella. But objective reality has always told a different story — and a Russian umbrella looks a lot more like a round hole in a Russian outhouse floor.