Kyiv, Ukraine: The SBU, Ukraine’s domestic security organization, said that a drone hit on Russia’s Saky airbase in Crimea, which is controlled by Russia, was successful. The SBU said in a statement on Monday that the special operation destroyed one Russian Su-30SM fighter plane and damaged another. Reports say that the operation also hit three Su-24 jet bombers and a military aviation weapons facility.
The SBU said that the operation was a step toward “weakening the enemy’s ability to wage its war of aggression against Ukraine.” The agency said that the Saky airport was very important for operations in the Black Sea and called it a “key Russian airbase.” The Russian military lost a lot of money when they lost one Su-30SM plane, which is worth between $35 and $50 million. But no one has been able to confirm the SBU’s statements on their own yet.
The Russian military often assaults Ukraine with the Su-30SM, a multirole fighter, and the Su-24, a supersonic strike bomber. The jets are also used to patrol, watch radar, and protect long-range planes.
This incident happened just a few months after the SBU’s “Operation Spider’s Web,” which was a huge drone operation in early June 2025 that hit more than 40 Russian bombers at numerous airbases deep inside Russia. A Ukrainian official at the time said the operation was a huge effort that did a lot of damage to Russia’s long-range strategic aviation assets.
Russia has not yet officially said anything about the purported strikes on the Saky airbase.