KYIV – Ukrainian military forces allegedly conducted a strike on an airfield located in southern Russia, which was reportedly being utilized for launching Iranian-manufactured Shahed drones. This claim was made by Ukraine’s General Staff on Thursday. Concurrently, France announced the delivery of the initial batch of Mirage fighter jets to Ukraine.
According to the General Staff’s Facebook post, the nighttime attack on the airfield in Russia’s Krasnodar region resulted in a fire. The facility was purportedly involved in the housing and launching of drones, as well as the maintenance of aircraft used in attacks on Ukraine’s Kherson and Zaporizhzhia border areas.
Verification of this information from independent sources has not been possible. The Russian Defense Ministry did confirm the destruction of Ukrainian drones over Krasnodar but did not specify the location or name the airfield in question.
Ukraine has developed its own long-range drones as part of its effort to grow its domestic arms industry and become less dependent on Western help to fight its almost three-year war with Russia. The drones have at times reached deep into Russia, hitting oil refineries, weapons stores and airfields.
Meanwhile, French authorities said they had delivered the first fighter jets promised to Ukraine by President Emmanuel Macron last June.
“The first of them arrived in Ukraine today,” Sebastien Lecornu, the minister of the armed forces, said on X. “With Ukrainian pilots on board, trained for several months in France, they will now help to defend the skies over Ukraine.”
Lecornu did not say how many planes were delivered.
Ukraine has also received F-16s from European countries, though Ukrainian officials have rarely mentioned them in official comments about the fighting.
Russian forces fired 77 Shahed and other types of drones, as well as two ballistic Iskander-M missiles, at Ukraine overnight, according to Ukraine’s air force. A statement said 56 drones were destroyed and 18 others were jammed and lost mid-flight.
Some buildings were damaged, but no casualties were reported.
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