Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Saki is the name of the district that Novofeodorivka is located in. So it's the same air base as in the other videos and images, just from another angle. Whatever was hit didn't react too well to explosives, obviously...

Could also be an internal sabotage attack.

I am wondering, how long can the Russians keep up their operations in Ukraine if the Ukrainians are constantly targeting their ammo dumps, supply routes, command centres and bridges? Is there a point with inventory and logistics simply collapsing with the Russian Army having to withdraw from large pockets of territory simple to survive?

It seems that their offence in the Donbas has completely stalled now for the past month or so.

True, and ATACMS, the missile in question, has been mentioned as a possible "culprit" in this attack. The thing is that ATACMS hasn't been provided to Ukraine yet, at least not officially. Granted, that doesn't mean much, the US only recently admitted to supplying AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missiles to Ukraine, but we can't rule out a strike with Ukraine's indigenous Neptun SSM either, which does have a land-attack mode. It might even have been an air raid, with HARM available, it would very much be feasible to knock a "hole" into Russian air defense systems through which a strike package could attack. Finally, it could very well be a special forces operation. Judging from Google Maps, perimeter security at the air base does not seem particularly tight, so a spec ops team could likely penetrate the site, especially at night. Place a few timed charges somewhere in a dark corner, get out, and watch the fireworks next morning.

Bottom line is that we don't know for sure how Ukraine attacked. And I think Ukrainian high command would like to keep it that way as long as possible in order to keep the advantage.

The Kremlin propaganda machine is trying to claim the airfield events were accidental but those explosions look huge for something that is supposedly an accident. Have any other military airfields in Europe blown up like this in the last decade?

None that I can remember, certainly not without some outside "help" in getting the whole conflagration started. And to be perfectly honest, the Kremlin line is about as believable as a 75€ bill. There are some videos that show almost simultaneous explosions at locations that must be a good few hundred meters apart. Unless Russia has some new quantum-entangled explosives, an accident in one ammunition dump should not set up a secondary that far away.

There are actually quite a few ex Soviet air bases in Eastern Germany and the Czech Republic with similar hardened aircraft shelters. Just check out Peenemünde airfield, the former airfield at Brand (just look for Tropical Islands on Google Maps and you'll find it) or Neubrandenburg airport in Germany, or Hradcany airfield in the Czech Republic for example. All these are ex-Soviet air bases that still sport some extensive shelter complexes. From what I understand, the USSR mainly kept their shelters confined to "frontline" bases that were likely to be directly attacked if the cold war ever got hot. Bases like Nova Feodorivka, the one that is currently busy spreading itself over the surrounding countryside, were very much second-line stations that wouldn't have to worry about immediate air attack, hence the rather more open layout.

It is worth noting that the "west" also used these open layouts up until well into the 1960s or early 1970s. Just check out aerial images of bases like Da Nang or Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam dated back to the Vietnam War, and you'll see a lot of open revetments but now hardened shelters.

Interesting ...

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Yes, there is a point where they would seriously consider that. We have already had a nuclear plant bombed this week. No one should be complacent of where this could be heading.

Something I wondered about some time back is alluded to @6.45

The Ukrainian wit is very dry in this report

"russian tourists flee crimean resort due to sudden climatic changes" . . .

"Lack of protests in Moscow and Leningrad": what decade did the news anchor wake up in?!

lol