In four years, the enemy has lost fifty military aircraft in Crimea

In almost four years of full-scale war, Russia has lost more than 50 military aircraft and helicopters in occupied Crimea and over the Black Sea. The number of casualties increased sharply in 2025, but the largest strike so far has been the attack on the Saki air base in Novofedorivka in August 2022.

On the eve of the twelfth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea , Slovo i Dilo calculated how many Russian fighter jets and attack helicopters were lost on the peninsula and over the Black Sea.

The first year of the war was marked by a devastating strike on the Saki air base near Novofedorivka in August 2022. This airfield was one of the key ones for Russian aviation in Crimea. Multipurpose Su-30SM, Su-24M and Su-24MR frontline bombers, IL-76 transports, and other equipment were based there. It was from this base that the aircraft took off for missile attacks on Ukraine. During the August 9 attack, Russia lost eight Su-24Ms and four Su-30SMs. Another Su-24 was destroyed on August 16 at the Hvardiyske airfield. The cost of one such aircraft can reach about $6 million.

In August 2023, the Ukrainian Defense Forces launched a missile attack on a Russian plane over the Black Sea near Zmeinyi Island, damaging the aircraft. And in October of the same year, Russian air defense in Crimea shot down its own Mi-8 helicopter, confusing it with a Ukrainian drone.

In April 2024, a Ka-27 helicopter was lost on the peninsula. In July, the Ukrainian military destroyed one Su-30SM and damaged another fighter jet of the same type. In September, during a special operation in the Black Sea, the GUR 's fighters hit a Su-30SM with a portable anti-aircraft missile system. In December, near the Crimea, the DIU's special forces, using Magura V5 maritime drones with missile weapons, destroyed two Mi-8 helicopters and damaged another.

In 2025, the losses of Russian aviation in Crimea and near the peninsula increased dramatically.

During the year, Russia lost 13 Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters. Four of them were destroyed during a strike on Kirovske airfield in June, two as a result of an attack by the AFU on Simferopol airport in August, two more near Simferopol in September, and three during a raid by the GUR in the same month. There were also individual cases of helicopters being destroyed without specifying the location - in particular, a Ka-27 naval multipurpose helicopter was destroyed in November.

The losses of combat aircraft in 2025 were as follows: three Su-30, four Su-24, three Su-30SM, three An-26 transports, and one MiG-31. In addition, a MiG-29 multi-role fighter was destroyed at the Kacha military airfield in Crimea.

Also, on September 21 last year, a special unit of the GUR destroyed two Russian Be-12 Seagull anti-submarine amphibious aircraft in Crimea.

At the end of January 2026, the Ukrainian Defense Forces shot down a Russian bomber over the Black Sea during an attack on Odesa region. At the same time, the enemy struck the city with attack drones, damaging an infrastructure facility.

Анна Бальчінос