Russian amphibious aircraft explodes in dramatic Ukrainian drone video | World | News
This is the moment two Russian warplanes are taken out in a Ukrainian attack in Crimea. Ukraine‘s HUR military intelligence service claimed on Monday to have destroyed two submarine-hunting Be-12 Chayka amphibious aircraft.
HUR posted dramatic footage of the attack, claiming the strike by Ukraine‘s “Phantoms” special unit was the first ever on a Soviet-ear Be-12. The service said Ukrainian “warriors” also struck a Russian Mi-8 helicopter.
The video posted on social media by Ukraine‘s Defence Ministry appears to show the moment the aircraft were struck. In one clip, viewers can see a drone honing in on one of the planes.
BBC Verify geolocated the video to an airfield near Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea, where Ukraine has been intensifying attacks. The Kremlin has not commented on the strikes.
Moscow and Kyiv traded accusations of deadly drone strikes on civilian areas of their countries on Monday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky anticipated “a very intense week” of diplomacy at the UN General Assembly in New York.
International concerns have mounted recently that the fighting could spread beyond Ukraine’s borders. European countries have rebuked Russia for what they have described as provocations.
The incidents included Russian drones landing on Polish soil and Russian fighter jets entering Estonian airspace.
Latvia’s President Edgars Rinkevics said on social media that Russia was testing NATO’s political and military response and aiming to reduce Western support for Ukraine by forcing countries to redirect resources toward their own defence.
Mr Rinkevics said on Sunday that calibrating how to respond to Russia wasn’t easy. He added that Russia was doing just enough not to cross a red line, but things could still spiral.
Russia’s Defence Ministry denied any Estonian airspace violation by its planes. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed Estonia and NATO’s claims as “void, ungrounded and continuing an unbridled policy of inciting tensions and provoking confrontation”.
Mr Zelensky said on Monday that said that over the past week Russia fired more than 1,500 strike drones, 1,280 glide bombs and 50 missiles of various types at Ukraine.
He said more than 132,000 foreign components were found in those weapons from dozens of countries.
Meanwhile, at least seven Russian aircraft bombarded the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia overnight, killing three people and wounding two others, according to regional administration head Ivan Fedorov.
He said the attack started around 4.20am local time and lasted for about 40 minutes. Residential buildings, shopping centres, a car park and “critical infrastructure” were targeted, according to Mr Fedorov.
The Ukrainian air force said it stopped 132 out of 141 strike and decoy drones launched by Russian forces overnight.
Russia made similar claims. The Moscow-appointed head of Ukraine’s Russia-occupied Crimea peninsula, Sergei Aksyonov, said three people were killed and 16 others were wounded on Sunday by Ukrainian drones in a strike on the popular resort of Foros.
The Russian Defence Ministry said there are no military facilities there.
In Russia’s Belgorod border region, three people were killed and another 10 were injured by Ukrainian drone attacks on Sunday, according to the regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov.
The Defence Ministry said 114 Ukrainian drones were brought down on Monday over several Russian regions.
