Rostov region
In the morning, the governor of the Rostov region claimed a drone attack on a fuel base.
According to the governor, the attack by two UAVs resulted in two explosions, but there was no fuel fire and no one was injured.
The Ukrainian mass media, citing special services, reported that the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine carried out the operation and that there was a fire at the facility, as evidenced by eyewitnesses, although the Russian authorities deny this fact. According to media reports, the emergency services are still unable to cope with the fire.
An attack on a Russian military airfield in occupied Crimea.
This night was just as turbulent in occupied Crimea. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that at 2 a.m. the Russian military airfield in Belbek near Sevastopol, where the 38th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 4th Guards Air Defense Army is based, was attacked. The airfield was reportedly attacked by U.S. ATACMS missiles, which have recently entered service with the Ukrainian Army.
As a result of the strikes, the airfield started a fire. Satellite images recorded three fire centers: in the area of the runway and the parking places of fighter jets.
Defense Express suggests that the target of the ATACMS strikes could have been enemy MiG-31s. The publication cites satellite images from March 31 that show in detail where and what aircraft were located at the airbase. Among them were four MiG-31s.
“If we compare these images and a map of fires on the airfield after the strike, we can assume that ATACMS could have hit the MiG-31s,” Defense Express writes.
However, it is emphasized that the satellite images with the placement of the planes are not new.
Ukraine received more than 100 ATACMS missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers from the U.S. as part of the first tranche of $61 billion in aid, the New York Times reported. According to Reuters, they were transferred secretly and by the end of April the AFU had twice used the missiles to strike Russian targets, including in Crimea.
Other regions
Several aerial targets were shot down on the approach to Belgorod, the head of the region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said. According to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, one of the shells hit a residential house in the village of Dubovoye and started a fire. Two people were injured.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that two HARM missiles, two French Hammer guided bombs, two Olkha MLRS shells and nine drones were destroyed overnight over Belgorod Region.
The agency added that eight drones were intercepted and shot down over the Bryansk and Kursk regions.
