Explosion Hits Crimea Airfield Hosting Russia's 37th Air Regiment

A Russian military airbase in Crimea has reportedly been struck in a Ukrainian missile attack.

Footage shared on social media on Wednesday morning showed the purported aftermath of a blast that took place at around 11 a.m. local time at the Gvardeyskoye airfield, north of Simferopol, on the peninsula that has been occupied by Russia since 2014.

Initial reports indicated that a missile had landed near the base but no damage had been done, according to the Telegram channel Rybar. In videos filmed nearby, an explosion can be heard and smoke is seen rising.

The base is home to Russia's 37th Air Regiment, which is part of the country's Southern Military District. Ukraine's armed forces have carried out several attacks on the airfield in recent weeks.

The outlet reported that a converted S-200 or a Grom-2 missile may have been used although it noted that Ukraine's armed forces had also been firing drones in the nearby Rozdolny area, "so it is possible that they were involved in the attack on Gvardeyskoye."

Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian and Russian Defense Ministries for comment.

It comes as Ukrainian authorities said on Wednesday that Russian forces launched large-scale drone strikes across 11 regions in the previous 24 hours, killing at least two and injuring 15.

The Kyiv City Military Administration said 10 drones had been shot down but debris caused damage on the ground. In Donetsk Oblast, three civilians were injured in Russian attacks, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said, while one person died in attacks on Kharkiv Oblast, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that it had shot down a total of 23 Shahed-136 kamikaze drones launched from three directions: Kursk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk on the territory of the Russian Federation, and Chauda in Crimea.

Meanwhile, one of the Russian night strikes against Odesa Oblast targeted Ukraine's Danube River port of Izmail, damaging grain warehouses and other infrastructure, Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office and Defense Ministry said.

Russia has been targeting Odesa and the surrounding region since Moscow withdrew from a grain deal that allowed Ukraine to continue exports via the Black Sea, easing fears of food shortages in vulnerable countries.

In the aftermath of the strikes, the head of Ukraine's presidential office, Andrii Yermak called for tougher international sanctions against Moscow so that it cannot produce arms that "destroy infrastructure, and start famine in the countries of the Global South."

Update 08/02/23, 11:14 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.