Crimea Explosions Knocked Out Over Half of Russian Black Sea Jets: Report

More than half of Russia's naval aviation combat jets from its Black Sea fleet were knocked out in a series of explosions at a Russian airbase in Crimea earlier this month, according to a western official cited in a Reuters report Friday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said that Ukraine was now steadily exacting "kinetic effects" far behind Russia's lines in the ongoing war that began February 24. This is impacting Russia's logistics support, as well as having "a significant psychological effect on the Russian leadership," the official said.

Newsweek was not able to independently verify the Russian jet losses and reached out to Russia's Defense Ministry for confirmation and comment.

The Saki airfield was hit with a series of blasts on August 9 that Russia's Defense Ministry attributed to detonated aviation ammunition. The state-owned news agency Ria Novosti reported at the time that one person was killed and several others were injured, but Russia has denied that any aircraft were destroyed, according to the Associated Press.

Still, there have been unconfirmed indications that this is not the case.

The British Ministry of Defence said in its August 12 intelligence update that at least five Su-24 FENCER fighter-bombers and three SU-30 FLANKER H multi-role jets were "almost certainly destroyed or seriously damaged in the blasts" at Saki.

"The loss of eight combat jets represents a minor proportion of the overall fleet of aircraft Russia has available to support the war," the update read. "However, [Saki] was primarily used as a base for the aircraft of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. The fleet's naval aviation capability is now significantly degraded."

The update added that the explosions will "likely prompt the Russian military to revise its threat perception."

"Crimea has probably been seen as a secure rear-area," it said.

Newsweek was not able to independently verify the intelligence.

Russia annexed Crimea, which is on the northern coast of the Black Sea, in 2014 and has pushed for international recognition that it is part of Russia since. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed in an August 9 address in the wake of the explosions that Ukraine would never relinquish Crimea.

"This Russian war against Ukraine and against the entire free Europe began with Crimea and must end with Crimea—with its liberation," he said, according to an English translation. "Today it is impossible to say when this will happen. But we are constantly adding the necessary components to the formula of [the] liberation of Crimea."