Ukraine says it destroyed Russian drone base

Ukraine has announced the destruction of a Russian drone base, with satellite images revealing the aftermath. The images, shared by Ukraine's Navy, depict the obliteration of a Russian warehouse used for launching Iranian-made drones and training cadets. This follows reports of a significant explosion near a Russian airfield in the southern Krasnodar region. While Moscow has not commented on these reports, it did confirm the downing of several drones in the area overnight on Friday. According to Kyiv's Navy officials, the attack, which occurred on Friday night, resulted in the deaths of numerous training instructors and cadets who were learning to operate the Iranian-made Shahed drones. The operation was reportedly planned and executed in collaboration with Ukrainian intelligence agencies. The base was situated on the Sea of Azov, opposite the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, as indicated by data from Planet Labs, the US-based company that captured the images. 'New satellite images confirm the destruction on the night of June 21 of the Shahed-136/Geran-2 storage and preparation facilities, training buildings, control and communication points of these UAVs located in the Krasnodar Territory,' naval officials wrote on Facebook. The images shared on social media showed two large warehouses divided by a road running north-south on April 11. Subsequent images taken on Saturday revealed one warehouse completely destroyed and the other significantly damaged. On Friday, Russia reported shooting down 114 drones during a Ukrainian attack on oil refineries and military targets in the country's south. Officials mentioned that one person was killed by falling debris but did not reference the drone base attack. On Saturday, Russian-installed officials in occupied Crimea reported that three people, including two children, were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on a beach on the peninsula. Mikhail Razvozhaev, appointed by Moscow as the regional governor in 2020, stated that nearly 100 people were injured by missile fragments in the attack on Uchkuyevka near Sevastopol. Russia's defense ministry claimed that five projectiles were destroyed by air defenses, but debris from the interceptions fell on coastal areas. Officials identified the missiles as US-made ATACMS, capable of striking deep into Russian-held territory. In other developments, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region reported additional Ukrainian drone attacks overnight on Sunday, resulting in one death and three injuries. Vyacheslav Gladkov mentioned that one of the drones destroyed a car park in Graivoron, approximately six kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Meanwhile, Kyiv officials reported that two people were injured and numerous residential buildings were damaged in a Russian missile and drone attack on the Ukrainian capital on Saturday night. Ruslan Kravchenko, head of the Kyiv regional administration, stated that the injuries were caused by falling debris. He noted that six tower blocks, 20 private homes, and several shops were damaged in the attack. Ukraine's air force claimed to have destroyed two of the three missiles launched by Russia towards the Kyiv region. In his nightly address from the capital, President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his appeal to Western nations for new air defenses, specifically requesting US-made Patriot systems. 'Ukraine needs the necessary forces and means to destroy the carriers of these bombs, particularly Russian combat aviation wherever it is,' he said.