Satellite images show Russian warplanes destroyed in Crimea; Moscow’s military exports under strain

Satellite imagery from U.S.-based Planet Labs shows at least eight Russian warplanes damaged or destroyed from massive explosions that took place on Tuesday at Russia’s Saky airbase in Crimea.

The Kremlin has denied that any planes were damaged in the blasts that it says killed one person, injured 14 more and damaged nearby houses.

The Ukrainian air force says at least nine Russian planes were destroyed while on land, although Ukrainian officials have not publicly taken responsibility for what analysts say was likely an attack either directed by Kyiv or carried out by Ukrainian partisans.

Russia has downplayed the possibility of a targeted attack, although analysts say the satellite imagery suggests just that. Moscow has said that “aviation munitions detonated” in a storage facility at the base.

— Natasha Turak

Russia’s arms industry is a major export sector for the country, but it’s now likely to face problems in fulfilling some of its orders because of the strain on capacity from the war in Ukraine, Britain’s Ministry of Defense wrote in its daily intelligence briefing on Twitter.

“Russia is highly unlikely to be capable of fulfilling some export orders for armoured fighting vehicles because of the exceptional demand for vehicles for Russia’s own forces in Ukraine, and the increasing effect of Western sanctions,” the ministry wrote.

Its “military industrial capacity is now under significant strain, and the credibility of many of its weapon systems has been undermined by their association with Russian forces’ poor performance in the Ukraine war,” the post added.

— Natasha Turak

As Ukraine and Russia trade blame for shelling around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, one former employee said the consequences could be catastrophic and that she is terrified for her former colleagues at the facility in the town of Enerhodar. 

“The mood there is very sad. It is very scary for them to work,” Alyona, 37, told NBC News on Tuesday from the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is still under Ukrainian control. 

NBC News isn’t revealing her last name because she still has family in parts of the Zaporizhzhia region under Russian rule and she fears repercussions. Also, her husband is in the Ukrainian army. 

Alyona said she stopped going to work as an engineer at the nuclear plant after Russian forces seized it in March and escaped to Zaporizhzhia soon after.

She added that she is still able to call and exchange messages with some of her former co-workers at the plant, which was operated by around 11,000 people before the Russian invasion. The number of staff currently working there is unknown. 

Read more of this NBC News report here.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on the European Union and the G-7 countries to stop issuing visas to Russian citizens.

“Russians overwhelmingly support the war on Ukraine. They must be deprived of the right to cross international borders until they learn to respect them,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told The Washington Post that the only way to stop Russia from annexing any more of Ukraine’s territory is for Western countries to ban all Russian citizens.

— Amanda Macias