According to a secret NATO report on August 27, 2022, Russia has decided to withdraw ten of its fighter jets from occupied Crimea (south of Ukraine) against the backdrop of increasingly frequent explosions in Crimea, which are probably behind Ukrainian forces.
Source: secret NATO report
According to a NATO report “Russia is likely to withdraw its air force from Crimea to prevent further attacks from Ukraine.”
The Russian military is said to have already redeployed ten of its fighter jets from Crimea back to Russian territory to avoid further aircraft losses. These are six SU-35S fighters and four MiG-31BM interceptors.
“Despite these maneuvers, the Crimean Belbek airfield near Sevastopol remains “Russia’s most important airfield for providing air support in the south of Ukraine and over the Black Sea,” NATO intelligence representatives write.
According to the Alliance, about 32 Russian fighter jets are still stationed in Belbek. These are mostly SU-27 fighters, but there are also a small number of modern SU-35S and MiG-31BM. In addition, Russia has increased the number of its tactical surface-to-air missiles in Crimea to counter further attacks from Ukraine, such as drones.
“Ukrainian UAVs are difficult for Russian air defense systems to detect as targets. This problem is common among all the forces that Russia deploys in Ukraine.”
See also: Explosions at military airbase in Russian-occupied Crimea were heard: video
