Satellite Photos Show Destruction of Russian Shahed Drone Warehouse

Satellite imagery has revealed the extent of the damage caused by a Ukrainian drone attack site in southern Russia which Kyiv said stored Iranian drones.

Ukraine’s General Staff said on Thursday it had struck the base in Yeysk, in the Krasnodar region, containing 400 Shahed drones. Video shared on social media showed explosions and secondary detonations lighting up the night sky.

Pro-Ukrainian social media users said that long-range kamikaze drones and possibly Neptune cruise missiles had successfully hit the facility containing the UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) which have been used repeatedly against Ukrainian infrastructure.

Images from the Planet Labs satellite show the impact of the drone attack, including damage to storage buildings, the destruction of one of its roofs and evidence of fire.

Ukrainska Pravda reported that there had been a precise hit on the target which sparked a secondary detonation. The governors of Krasnodar and Bryansk Oblasts said that their territories had been attacked by drones that were allegedly downed, and that wreckage had only caused minor damage.

The Russian Defense Ministry, which Newsweek has contacted for comment, claimed that air defenses had downed dozens of Ukrainian drones that night without referring to the destruction of the Yeysk facility.

It comes as Kyiv’s Center for National Resistance (CNR) reported on Saturday that Moscow has tasked the authorities it appointed in Ukraine’s occupied territories to investigate the use of seized factories to produce kamikaze drones.

The aim of producing the drones in eastern Ukraine, with the help of students from vocational schools, would be to shorten delivery times for launches. The CNR said that the devices would be stored in urban areas, effectively making the local population as a human shield.

Ukraine has stepped up its drone attacks on Russian military and energy infrastructure in a bid to stem Moscow’s military machine.

Drones attacked the Khanskaya military airfield which hosts Russia’s 272nd Training Aviation Regiment in the Republic of Adygea in the early hours of Thursday, destroying a fuel and lubricants depot, according to social media users.

The day before, Kyiv said a drone strike had set ablaze the 67th Arsenal of Russia’s Main Missile and Artillery Directorate (GRAU) near the city of Karachev in Bryansk Oblast. The site contained guided aerial bombs, missiles, artillery weapons as well as North Korean ammunition, Ukraine said.

Earlier in the month, Ukraine’s security services told the Kyiv Independent it was behind a drone attack against the Borisoglebsk military airfield in Russia’s Voronezh Oblast.