On 24 February 2022, the Chuhuiv Air Base in

Chuhuiv Chuhuiv ( uk, Чугуїв) or Chuguev (russian: Чугуев) is a city in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Chuhuiv Raion (district). It hosts the administration of Chuhuiv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Uk ...

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhans ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

was the target of an air strike by Russian forces as part of the

Northeastern Ukraine offensive The northeastern Ukraine campaign was a theatre of operation from 24 February to 8 April 2022 in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine for control of two provinces (oblasts) in Ukraine — Chernihiv Oblast and Sumy Oblast. On 4 April 2022, Ukra ...

during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

Background

Chuhuiv air base is located in the city of

in Ukraine. The air base was capable of housing

Baykar Bayraktar TB2 The Bayraktar TB2 is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations. It is manufactured by the Turkish company Baykar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş ...

drones, as did the military airfields in Starokostyantyniv and

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( uk, Миколаїв, ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Southern Ukraine, the Administrative centre, administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv city, which provides U ...

Attack

In the opening hours of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, a Russian missile attack targeted the Chuhuiv air base. Following the attack, the US-based space technologies' company

Maxar Maxar Technologies Inc. is a space technology company headquartered in Westminster, Colorado, United States, specializing in manufacturing communication, Earth observation, radar, and on-orbit servicing satellites, satellite products, and relate ...

published satellite images depicting damage resulting from the missile strike. According to

open-source intelligence Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is the collection and analysis of data gathered from open sources (covert and publicly available sources) to produce actionable intelligence. OSINT is primarily used in national security, law enforcement, and busi ...

information, the attack left damage to fuel storage areas and other airport infrastructure. Also, at least five

L-39 L39 or L-39 may refer to: * 60S ribosomal protein L39 * Aero L-39 Albatros, a Czechoslovakian jet trainer * Bell L-39, an American experimental aircraft * , a destroyer of the Royal Navy * , a sloop of the Royal Navy * Lahti L-39, an anti-tank rif ...

jet trainers, parked at the air base, were either destroyed or heavily damaged.

Later attacks

On 10 April 2022, Russian officials claimed their forces targeted Ukrainian S-300 air defences present at Chuhuiv airbase.

References

Northeastern Ukraine campaign Battles of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine February 2022 events in Ukraine Chuhuiv History of Kharkiv Oblast Airstrikes during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Attacks on military installations in the 2020s {{Ukraine-hist-stub