THIS is the moment Ukraine struck a key Russian military airfield in one of the heaviest nights of kamikaze drone bombing of the war.
Smoke is seen rising sky during explosions at the Morozovsk air base – near the conflict zone in the Rostov region.
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The clip shows the aftermath of the launch of Ukrainian drones at one of Putin’s formidable military airfields, where numerous explosions occurred.
A bright orange ball lights up the sky as the person filming hides behind a car.
Clouds of smoke filled the sky as the thunderous sound of the explosion was heard for miles.
It comes as the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, revealed that work is underway on a “complex solution” to destroy Vladimir Putin’s £3 billion bridge linking Russia with the annexed Crimea in the “next months”.
Ukraine also struck military warehouses in the Rostov region as part of what the Russians called a “massive” attack.
Some 55 drones attacked the region overnight, Governor Vasily Golubev said, while Russia said it shot down 75 at the dam.
He claimed that unspecified “storage facilities” were hit.
“Emergency services are extinguishing the fires. Information about the victims is being clarified,” she said.
Separately, footage showed the moment a kamikaze drone hit a 16-story tower in the Oryol region, south of Moscow.
The strike caused a huge explosion.
Morozovsk Airfield is a major Russian base near Morozovsk, close to the Ukrainian border.
It houses several squadrons of combat aircraft, including the advanced Su-34, a modern Russian fighter-bomber.
Explosions were also heard in Millerovo.
Budanov defended Ukraine’s campaign to attack Russian military airport facilities.
In one recent case, a drone damaged a long-range bomber in Olenya, in the Arctic region of Murmansk, 1,175 miles from the nearest border with Ukraine, through regions of Russia filled with air defenses.
“Recently, drones reached certain Russian airfields, including Olenya and others,” Budanov said.
“There were bombers damaged.
“This allowed us to delay the attacks against us by at least a few days.”
Speaking on Ukrainian TV, he said “work is underway” to blow up the 19-kilometer Crimean – or Kerch – bridge, the longest in Europe and Russia.
“Everyone is working for the long term strikes It is [the destruction of the Crimean bridge],” he said in comments reported by Ukrinform.
“All of this requires, let’s say, a complex solution.”
Asked whether its destruction could be achieved in the coming months, he said: “There are chances.”
This would cut off an important Russian supply line to Crimea, which was annexed by Putin in 2014.
Russia has mounted a huge operation to prevent the bridge from being hit by sea or air missiles or drones.
But two previous attacks caused damage to the structure that spans the Kerch Strait between the Azov and Black Seas.
In July last year, the specially developed marine kamikaze drone called Sea Baby, loaded with 850 kg of explosives, caused structural damage to the Crimean bridge.
In October 2022, a bomb hidden in a truck exploded on the bridge, causing extensive damage.
However, Russia was able to continue using the crossing.
Ukraine has repeatedly promised to destroy it.
Putin has long maintained that his award-winning Kerch Bridge – which he called a “miracle” upon its completion in 2018 – cannot be destroyed.
Ukraine says otherwise. For them, it is target number one – a grotesque display of 10 years of Russian occupation.
Cutting off Russia’s only land bridge to Crimea would be an important step toward winning the Black Sea war and stifling Putin’s war machine.
Separately, the Russian Defense Ministry showed what it claimed was a Buk-M3 air defense system destroying an American-made ATACMS missile launched by the Ukrainian military.
The annexation of Crimea
RUSSIA invaded the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014 – triggering ten years of war between the two neighbors.
On February 20, 2014, unidentified Russian tanks advanced into the Crimean peninsula and began a painful and oppressive war that would eventually be fought across Ukraine.
Russian troops nicknamed “little green men” appeared in uniforms without insignia or carrying any flags.
In less than two months, between February and March 2014, Putin’s forces seized strategic locations, installed their own illegally appointed officials and annexed the peninsula.
But two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Crimea – once considered by Vlad to be a relatively safe zone – has become dangerously vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks.
It is now under fire from a wave of Storm Shadow missile and drone attacks, special operations raids and sabotage attacks, while much larger battles are expected.
Experts believe the seizure of Crimea could be a matter of “death by a thousand cuts” for Putin as his stronghold is destroyed by the Ukrainians.
Former US general Ben Hodges told The Sun that since 2014, Ukraine’s goal has always been to win back Crimea.
“If Crimea falls, Putin could fall too,” he explained.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
