RIGHT SPEAK: UKRaine Picks Apart RUssia's Best Air Defenses in Crimea; Strikes On Command Post in Crimea, Saboteurs Attack Airbase Near Moscow; Explosions at Chkalovsky Airfield Near Moscow Damage Several Aircraft; Suspected Drone Strike Blows Up Oil Depot Near Putin’s Sochi Palace, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

Photo via Ukrainian Military Intelligence/Defense Ministry

Uncertain Triumph: Ukraine picks apart Russia's best air defenses in Crimea:

The past month has not been kind to Russia's forces in occupied Crimea.

In a span of weeks, a ship, a submarine, and multiple air defense systems were destroyed.

Ukraine said these targets included Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, optimistically named the Triumph. Purported videos of attacks on Aug. 23 and Sept. 15 recorded very large explosions, suggesting that launchers went up in flames.

These weren't the only successful attacks on the four S-400 battalions Russia had defending occupied Crimea since at least 2018. In comments to the Kyiv Independent, Ukrainian intelligence sources claimed to have already destroyed two of these battalions.

Newsweek cited open-source outlet Oryx that Russia lost key S-400 parts on at least five separate occasions.

Ukrainian forces also recently took out some other anti-air radar and weapon systems, further weakening Russia's ability to deny the skies.

"This significantly undermines the occupiers' ability to defend the peninsula and their regional dominance," Andriy Yusov, Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate spokesman, told the Kyiv Independent.

These are grim tidings for Moscow. The S-400 was supposed to be one of Russia's trump cards, able to reliably delete flying targets hundreds of kilometers away.

It was supposed to help turn occupied Crimea into an impregnable fortress and catch the eye of procurement officials around the world, making its $500 million price tag sound like a bargain. --->READ MORE HERE

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Ukraine war latest: Strikes on command post in Crimea, saboteurs attack airbase near Moscow:

Ukraine hit a Russian Black Sea Fleet command post near occupied Sevastopol in Crimea, the military's Strategic Communications Directorate reported on Sept. 20.

Sevastopol, in the southeastern part of occupied Crimea, hosts Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters.

The footage published online shows explosions near the Russian airbase Belbek, north of Sevastopol.

Ukraine's military hasn't specified the extent of the damage.

Mikhail Razvozhaev, the Russian official leading the occupation authorities in Sevastopol, said it was a Ukrainian drone attack, claiming the Russian air defense downed the loitering munition.

Since August 2022, explosions in Russian-occupied Crimea have been reported regularly.

In recent months, there were several high-profile strikes on Russian forces in the area, including using marine drones and missiles on Sept. 13 that damaged landing craft, a submarine, and port infrastructure in Sevastopol.

In addition, Ukraine's military intelligence reported on Sept. 20 that the ICEYE satellite purchased via a Ukrainian crowdfunding campaign last year had a "very important role" in the Sept. 13 Sevastopol attack.

The Russian landing craft was "functionally destroyed," and the submarine suffered "catastrophic damage" in the attack, according to U.K. intelligence.

Military intelligence said that Sept. 20 marks a year since Ukraine received the satellite, allowing the Ukrainian military to "receive radar satellite imagery on critical locations." --->READ MORE HERE