Ukrainian Intelligence Claims Joint Operation Successfully Hit Russian Triumf Air Defense System in Crimea

Illustration of the Russian S-400 missile system. (Wikimedia Commons/Mil.ru/men's

JAKARTA - The Ukrainian air defense system in the city of Yevpatoriya, west of Crimea, was reportedly hit by a long-range attack carried out by Ukraine on Thursday.

Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement that its air defenses had shot down 11 drones overnight over the peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014. However, the ministry did not mention any damage.

Meanwhile, a video circulating on social media showed a powerful explosion and clouds of smoke rising in the night sky lit by flames.

A Ukrainian intelligence source told Reuters, as quoted on September 14, that the attack destroyed the "Triumf" air defense system in a joint operation of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the navy.

First, the source said, the drones blinded the air defense system by attacking its radar and antenna, before two Ukrainian-made Neptune cruise missiles were fired at the defense system.

Triumf is the name of the air defense system with the S-400 missile developed by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau, as an improvement on the S-300 version.

Military analysts say the Ukrainians have modified the Neptune anti-ship missile so that it has the capability to carry out attacks on land targets.

It is known that the attack occurred a day after Ukraine launched missiles at the Sevastopol Shipyard in Crimea, the headquarters of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. It is a strategic shipyard for the manufacture and repair of the fleet's warships and submarines.