The UK Ministry of Defense, in its latest intelligence update on December 9, 2024, highlighted the successful strike by Ukraine's Defense Forces on a russian air defense position in temporarily occupied Crimea, carried out on November 29, 2024.
At the site, where components of an S-400 systems once stood, craters measuring 13.5 meters in diameter are now visible. Additionally, evidence of secondary detonations and fragments of the destroyed surface-to-air missile system have been observed.
Read more: Large Explosion Near Simferopol Airfield: Suspected Strike on russian S-400 SAM System
The British highlight that this was the second successful strike by Ukraine's Defense Forces on russian S-400 systems in November 2024. The first strike occurred earlier, on November 23, 2024, in the Kursk region.
Defense Express emphasizes several points. First, it is important to note that this report by the UK Ministry of Defense carries additional value in multiple dimensions.
We can recall that on November 29, 2024, social media indeed reported a new strike on russian occupiers in Crimea. However, at the time, there were only assumptions that the "hit" targeted either an S-400 air defense system position or an ammunition depot.
As we can clearly observe, the actual target of the strike was the russian S-400 system. Moreover, the strike was so effective that one can only measure the width of the crater left by the explosion's power.
However, it is worth noting that the UK Ministry of Defense does not provide its assessment on the key question: what specific weapon was used by Ukrainian forces to destroy this russian S-400 system in temporarily occupied Crimea?
For such a strike, both ATACMS and domestically modernized Neptunes could have been used with equal likelihood. The first use of Neptunes for destroying an S-400 system in temporarily occupied Crimea occurred back in the fall of 2023.
Additionally, the nature of the efforts by Ukraine's Defense Forces within which this strike was conducted remains an open question. The goal of this strike might not only have been to "clear" the way for Ukrainian missiles to reach the Crimean Bridge but also to target equally critical objectives, such as the occupiers' key infrastructure on the peninsula.
Read more: Ukrainian Scouts Hit Three russian Radars in Temporarily Occupied Crimea
