British intelligence: Ukrainian Armed Forces hit S-400 SAM in Crimea
9 December, 2024 The Pantsir-S1 air defense system covers the positions of the S-400 anti-aircraft system. Photo: Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of Ukraine have destroyed a Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile system in the temporarily occupied Crimea.
This is reported by the official website of the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom with reference to the country's intelligence in the X social media. According to British intelligence, on November 29, 2024, the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck at the position of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system near Simferopol in the temporarily occupied Crimea. The intelligence also refers to photographs of local residents who captured the moment of the explosion and the detonation of the missiles with the rise of smoke, indicating the combustion of rocket fuel.
Satellite image provided by the UK Ministry of Defence.
Photo: UK Ministry of Defence
According to this, at least two S-400 self-propelled launchers were destroyed, which is also confirmed by satellite images that show two explosion craters 13.5 meters apart, as well as a significant amount of debris in the area. Also, at the time of recording, five vehicles were identified on the satellite image, which were probably exploring the area and possibly conducting an examination. On November 29, Militarnyi reported a large-scale explosion of an unknown object near Sevastopol, which had been located near the local airfield.
The explosion occurred in the morning around 9:00 and was so strong that it was felt in a large part of the city. In addition, after the explosion, smoke began to rise into the sky, visually similar to the detonation of rocket fuel, which can be observed at the time of the destruction of anti-aircraft missile systems.
Explosion on the outskirts of Simferopol, November 29, 2024. Photo: t.me/chp_crimea
According to the research by the Ukrainian Geoint project, Cyberboroshno geolocated the location of the shooting and concluded that the shooting had been carried out from the village of Kurhanne, the Simferopol district, at coordinates 45.047012, 33.952842.
"Next to the field where the SAM was hit is a former S-400 position. It was no longer used after constant missile and UAV attacks on Crimea. However, the position and the field are located at a height, so it is likely that today the SAM decided to fire in the field because of the good topography for this," the project analysts said.
According to Oryx estimates, the losses of 5P85 self-propelled launchers from the S-400 system amounted to 17 units, five and three 92N6A and 96L6 radars, respectively, as well as two 55K6A command posts.
This may indicate that the systems are not suitable for intercepting Ukrainian cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones, due to the lack of appropriate small missile weapons capable of intercepting small air targets.