Explosions in Sevastopol: NASA satellite data confirms fire at military airfield
Photo: Explosions and a fire broke out at a military airfield in Sevastopol (Getty Images)
Russian occupation authorities describe the overnight explosions and massive fire at the Khersones airfield in Sevastopol as “training exercises” by the Black Sea Fleet, but NASA satellite imagery suggests otherwise - the fire is still not extinguished, the Russian Telegram channel ASTRA reports.
Local citizens said they heard a series of blasts and saw flames rising into the night sky. Despite official claims of “planned emergency response training,” social media users expressed anger, saying the occupation administration was “treating people like fools.”
Analysis of NASA fire data indicates that the blaze has not yet been extinguished.
The Khersones airfield, located on Cape Khersones in Russian-occupied Sevastopol, is a historic military site. Before and during World War II, it hosted fighters, attack aircraft, and torpedo bombers.
After the war, it was used by Soviet aviation, later mothballed, and officially designated as a dispersal airfield in 1997. Nearby are naval facilities, including the Dnister radar station.
Although officially inactive, the Ukrainian partisan movement Atesh reports the airfield is currently used by Russian forces to launch drones for attacks on Ukraine.
According to Atesh, the nearby Kozacha Bay area also houses:
- A fuel terminal supporting the 810th Separate Marine Brigade;
- Berths for Black Sea Fleet landing ships;
- A naval dolphinarium (formerly military unit 13132-K);
- The elite 561st Special Operations Rescue Center, whose fighters took part in the assault on Mariupol and are still engaged in combat operations against Ukraine.
Strikes in Crimea
Earlier, on the night of August 21, Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces struck a Russian military train carrying fuel and lubricants near Dzhankoy.
Last month, explosions sounded in occupied Crimea amid a massive drone attack. A photo of a strike drone allegedly flying towards Belbek airfield was later posted online.
Earlier, a series of powerful explosions was also heard in temporarily occupied Crimea. Social media was flooded with reports of drone attacks and active Russian air defense.
