KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian military forces have reportedly targeted an airfield in southern Russia that was being utilized to launch drones designed by Iran, known as Shahed drones, according to statements released by Ukraine’s General Staff on Thursday. In related developments, France announced the delivery of the initial batch of Mirage fighter jets to Ukraine, while additional F-16 aircraft were sent by the Netherlands.
The overnight assault on the Primorsko-Akhtarsk airfield, located in Russia’s Krasnodar region, resulted in a fire outbreak, as shared by the General Staff through a Facebook post. This airfield is crucial as it not only stores and launches drones but also services aircraft that have been involved in attacks on the Ukrainian border regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Verification of these claims has proven challenging. The Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged that it had intercepted Ukrainian drones over Krasnodar; however, it did not provide details regarding the specific location of the incident or mention the airfield in question.
To bolster its military capabilities, Ukraine has been actively developing its own long-range drone technology, aiming to enhance its domestic arms production and reduce its dependence on Western assistance amid the ongoing conflict with Russia that has persisted for nearly three years. Some of these drones have successfully penetrated deep into Russian territory, targeting key facilities such as oil refineries, ammunition depots, and airfields.
France confirmed that it has delivered the first tranche of fighter jets promised to Ukraine by President Emmanuel Macron in June. “The first of them arrived in Ukraine today,” said Sebastien Lecornu, France’s Minister of Armed Forces, via social media platform X. He also mentioned that Ukrainian pilots, who underwent several months of training in France, would now utilize these jets to bolster air defense in Ukraine. However, Lecornu did not disclose the specific number of planes delivered.
Additionally, the Netherlands has supplied more F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, according to statements from Ukraine’s Defense Ministry. However, details regarding the quantity of these aircraft have not been clarified. Previous shipments of F-16s from European nations had been mentioned sporadically by Ukrainian officials in official communications concerning the conflict.
In a separate account of military activity, Russian forces were reported to have launched 77 Shahed drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles, alongside two ballistic Iskander-M missiles, directed at Ukraine during the nighttime. Ukraine’s air force indicated that 56 of these drones were successfully intercepted, while 18 experienced mid-flight failures due to electronic jamming. Some infrastructure sustained damage during these attacks; however, no casualties were reported.
