Crimea Satellite Photos Reveal Devastation After Kyiv Strike on Arms Site

Satellite images have been released in the aftermath of a reported Ukrainian cruise missile attack on a Russian drone storage site in Cape Fiolent, in annexed Crimea.

The photos, dated April 11 and July 8, are from California-based global imaging company Planet Labs and were published by the U.S.-funded media outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The images "show the obliteration of the alleged Shakhed/Geran loitering munitions storage (unconfirmed!) on Cape Fiolent in occupied Crimea by a Ukrainian strike on July 1st," Mark Krutov, a journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said on X (formerly Twitter), sharing the before and after photos.

Ukraine has ramped up its attacks on Crimea as part of a push to reclaim the Black Sea peninsula, which was annexed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014.

Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on July 2 that Kyiv's forces had struck an ammunition depot in Crimea the day before.

Meanwhile, the Telegram channel Spy Dossier, which has over 50,000 subscribers and claims to have links to Russian intelligence, published a photo on July 2 saying Ukrainian missiles struck an "object" of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Cape Fiolent in Crimea's port city of Sevastopol.

The translation for the unspecified "object" can mean both an object and a facility.

"The attack was carried out using cruise missiles of an unknown type. The target of the attack was a warehouse with the Shahed-136/Geran-2 UAV," the channel said. "There is no information on losses among personnel."

Newsweek reached out to Russia's Defense Ministry via email for comment.

The Crimea-based Telegram channel Crimean Wind shared the Planet Labs satellite imagery on Wednesday. It said the after photo shows that a building that housed a Shahed drone warehouse is now "completely totalled."

The Washington-based nonprofit Institute for Science and International Security also obtained satellite imagery of the site and noted that conflicting reports have been made about whether it was an ammunition depot or a warehouse that stored Shahed drones.

"One of the buildings has completely collapsed," the institute said of the image in an analysis published on Tuesday. "Of note, NASA satellites did not pick up any fire in the area in that week."

"Reportedly, the strike was carried out using an aircraft-launched missile, and the site was also known as abandoned military base #99375, which previously belonged to the USSR Navy," it said.

"Although Shahed launches continue from other sites, Ukrainian official sources have not yet reported any launches from Yeysk or Cape Fiolent following the corresponding Ukrainian strikes on those sites," the institute added.

Russia's military has used Iranian-designed Shahed drones extensively in the war in Ukraine. Ukraine said in December that Russia had launched more than 3,700 Shahed drones into Ukraine in the previous 22 months.

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