The russian airbase in temporarily occupied Dzhankoi in Crimea suffered a rather powerful blow, which was inflicted Wednesday Morning, April 17. Formally, the 39th Helicopter Regiment is based at this airbase, but the airfield is also used by russian attack aircraft.
In particular, satellite images dated by March 9 showed 10 Mi-28 attack helicopters, two Ka-52s, and four Su-25 attack aircraft.
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Also, these pictures left the question of whether the real S-400 air defense system is located at this airbase, because it was more like the fact that the real SAM system was moved to another place, and a mock-up was deployed instead.
It is not yet known what exactly caused the strike, but russian contributors on social networks note a combined strike with ballistic and cruise missiles. They were allegedly ATACMS and Storm Shadow, although the latter allegedly had a different flight sound.
Note that, in theory, ATACMS could have struck even with a range of 165 km, which is the M39 missile already used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, because it is sufficient to launch even from front-line areas. Also, the use of this type of missile with a cluster warhead is quite effective for defeating both air defense positions as well as helicopters and airplanes located in open areas. At a minimum, past use of ATACMS to strike heliports has turned enemy helicopters into a sieve.
At the same time, the Storm Shadow cruise missile for an attack on air bases usually means the destruction of warehouses with aviation weapons and command posts. For example, for the attack on the Belbek air base, precisely the buried control points became the main target for Storm Shadow.
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