Russians are building protective structures for aircraft at the Belbek air base

The occupation authorities are building protective structures for aircraft at the Belbek air base.

According to The War Zone, satellite imagery from Planet Labs, acquired on December 19, shows that in the central part of the airbase there are approximately 10 fortified "shelters" in various stages of construction over the existing parking areas for military aircraft. The less protected shelters have additional grilles, the newspaper notes.

According to TMZ, similar structures have been seen at other Russian air bases in the past:

"The extra physical defenses at Belbek make sense. The base has been a particularly high-priority target for Ukraine because the aircraft and air defense assets based there help provide critical surveillance of the neighboring Russian naval base in Sevastopol, and extend that surveillance far into the Black Sea," the article says.

Since August 2022, it has been noisy in Crimea almost every day. On the afternoon of December 8, the Crimean peninsula was allegedly attacked by two drones. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the UAVs that attacked Crimea were allegedly shot down over the Black Sea. At the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry did not provide any evidence for its statements. The ministry accused Ukraine of the attack. The Ukrainian side did not comment on these reports.

On Saturday, December 7, according to the Commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Vice Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, Ukrainian Navy units successfully attacked Russian surveillance systems located on seized gas platforms in the Black Sea. In turn, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the destruction of allegedly six maritime drones, but the occupiers decided not to report on the consequences of the attack.

Also in October, an oil depot in the temporarily occupied Feodosia was attacked by Ukrainian Armed Forces drones. This oil depot is the largest oil storage facility in Crimea. Another such facility is located in the city of Sevastopol. Since both oil storage bases provide fuel to the Russian occupation army, they are targets of combat damage during the Russian-Ukrainian war.

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