Ukraine steps up its offensive in Crimea: Drones destroy Russian helicopters and tugboat

Ukraine's military intelligence has stepped up its campaign against Russian targets on the Crimea peninsula, annexed by Russia, with a new attack demonstrating Kiev's growing ability to conduct precision operations in occupied territory, according to reports from Infobae.

The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry released a video on Monday showing drone strikes executed by its special "Phantom" unit against the airport in Simferopol, the capital of Crimea. According to the official statement, the destroyed targets include two Russian Mi-8 military helicopters, used for transport and air defense, and a tugboat, with damage estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.

The video shows first-person footage from the perspective of the drones, which approach the helicopters parked on the airfield before detonating on impact. Subtitles in Ukrainian identify the targets with the captions "CRIMEA, UKRAINE," "IMPACT ON FIRST MI-8" and "IMPACT ON SECOND MI-8."

Reported by the satellite imagery analysis group AviVector, the attack not only destroyed the two Mi-8 helicopters but also an Mi-24 attack helicopter, the media outlet notes.

The attack is part of a broader campaign by Ukraine to weaken Russian control over Crimea, considered by Kyiv to be illegally occupied Ukrainian territory since its annexation in 2014.

Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has employed aerial and naval drones to attack Russian military targets on the peninsula, including Black Sea Fleet ships, fuel depots and air bases.

At the moment, Russian authorities have not issued official statements about the attack in Simferopol.