As Ukrainian forces regained Ukrainian territories on the right bank of the Dnipro river, they filmed a video from a former russian military base at the Chornobaivka airport near Kherson city.
The video became the symbolic "final episode" of the story lasting since March 2022, which features repeated artillery strikes (at least 20, according to some estimates) on the airfield which became an important artery of russian logistics.
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The russian army basically turned the airport into storage for military equipment and created a network of fortifications. Despite constant shelling by Ukrainian artillery, ammo storage explosions and significant casualties, the base continued to function for a fairly long time.
Moreover, there were some pieces of quite expensive equipment stationed there despite Ukrainian artillerymen being very familiar with the aiming point due to all these strikes.
In particular, the video from Chornobaivka, now liberated from the russians, features a destroyed R-330Zh "Zhitel" electronic warfare station and a "Zoopark-1M" counter-artillery radar system.
However, the most interesting piece is the 48Ya6-K1 "Podlet-K1" radar station which is designed to provide targeting for air defense missile systems of S-300 and S-400 types. This is the second documented case of such a station destroyed in Ukraine. The first one was in July, in the South as well, near Nova Kakhovka.
What makes this time unique is that despite being damaged, there is still the possibility to study all its components.
Modern and valuable 48Ya6-K1 “Podlet K1” low-altitude S-band surveillance radar was left behind by #Russian forces at Chornobaivka airport, Kherson.Expected to be made unoperable but time will tell. pic.twitter.com/PUzbEAaj7D— Pekka (@Poutsup) November 13, 2022
Another finding is the set of radiation reflectors which also got caught by the camera. The appearance of these objects is reasonable near any bridges – so that they help protect them from missile strikes, but they are not of any use at an airfield.
There is also this truck loaded with these containers, the insides are unknown but the vehicle itself was stripped of all equipment, including wheels and engine.
In addition to burnt-to-the-bone equipment, surprisingly two helicopters – Mi-8 and Mi-24- appear to be operational. These were captured by the russians from the Ukrainian Air Force in the first days of war.
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