As the Ukrainian forces continue to plod along as the underdog in its ongoing conflict with invading Russia, its military managed to destroy a key Russian missile base in Crimea in an effort to hopefully tip the scales in its favor.
Ukraine Hits Russian Forces Hard
Russia built the base on Cape Tarkhankut, which is located in Western Crimea, after seizing the area from Ukraine in 2014. A report from Forbes lists a number of weapons the Russians had on the site that included an S-400 surface-to-air missile battery, a battery armed with Bastion anti-ship cruise missiles and a suite of radars including a Podlet K1 and potentially others. Some had the capability of hitting targets both on land and sea that were as far as roughly 190 miles away, while another could hit aerial targets 250 miles away.
A video posted on Twitter reportedly shows base exploding, and claims that Ukrainian forces used modified S-200 missiles to destroy the base.
“This is a painful blow to the air-defense system of the occupiers, which will have a serious impact on further events in the occupied Crimea,” read a statement released by Ukrainian intelligence.
“During the execution of the task, the Ukrainian defenders engaged in combat with the units of the occupier. As a result, the enemy suffered losses among personnel, enemy equipment was destroyed. Also, the state flag was raised in the Ukrainian Crimea again,” Ukrainian military intelligence added, also stating that Ukraine did not suffer any casualties in the attack.
Ukrainian forces are seemingly looking to focus a significant amount of resources to liberate its territories in occupied Crimea, as Russian bases and installations have seen a spate of attacks from Ukraine, with the latter utilizing aerial drones and boats that carry drones fitted with explosives.
F-16 training continues
Another thing Ukraine is looking forward to is finally being able to utilize F-16 fighter jets in the war, as its pilots continue to train to fly the aircraft.
Denmark’s Air Force has committed to donating as many as 19 upgraded F-16s while the Netherlands and Norway have also promised to make their own donations of F-16 jets.
The donations follow an O.K. from Washington – which by habit is reluctant to have its weaponry change hands – for its allies to give up the jets.
The only obstacle is the length of time the pilots need to learn to fly the aircraft, while some need to take on additional language training before they will be able to take F-16 flying lessons.
GOP presidential hopefuls divided on U.S. support to Ukraine
Discussions among the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination for next year’s election – sans former president Donald Trump – during Fox News’ Republican primary debate were filled with colorful language when it came to the issue of the U.S.’ support of Ukraine.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he would draw back support and wait for European countries to “pull their weight”, while businessman Vivek Ramaswamy said that America should look to its own problems first, and said that it was offensive for “professional politicians who will make a pilgrimage to Kyiv, to their pope, (Ukrainian president) Zelensky” while ignoring domestic issues such as the wildfires in Maui.
Former ambassador and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley blasted Ramaswamy over his thoughts on issue. “You have no foreign policy experience and it shows,” she said, also accusing the biotech entrepreneur of “choosing a murderer” over a U.S. ally, and ceding power to China and letting the latter “eat Taiwan.”
Tim Ramos has written for various publications, corporations, and organizations – covering everything from finance, politics, travel, entertainment, and sports – in Asia and the U.S. for more than 10 years.
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