Russian Lieutenant General and 10 servicemen reportedly killed in Ukrainian strike on Belbek airfield
Lieutenant General Alexander Tatarenko, the commander of a Russian aviation squadron, was allegedly killed during a Ukrainian missile attack on the Belbek airfield in the annexed Crimea, reports the Telegram channel Crimean Wind.
Russian social media sources say that 10 Russian servicemen were also killed in the strike, along with Lieutenant General Alexander Tatarenko.
Russian Defense Ministry has not commented on the potential death of Lieutenant General Alexander Tatarenko.
63-year-old Alexander Yuryevich Tatarenko was a Russian military commander, a first-class military pilot who was appointed in 2016 as the commander of the 14th Air Force and Air Defense Army of Russia's Central Military District.
Tatarenko served in the Far East, the Urals, Siberia, and the northern regions of the Russian Federation. He could fly Su-15TM, Su-27, and An-26 aircraft.
On January 31, Russian Telegram channels reported several explosions in Sevastopol, Crimea. The Telegram channel Crimean Wind reported that a fire broke out at the Belbek airfield.
The head of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, said that the Russian military repelled a massive attack on Sevastopol. He claimed that six missiles were allegedly shot down. However, debris reportedly fell in a residential area on Fedorovskaya Street, and in the Ust-Belbek cottage community. 12 buildings were damaged by the debris—windows were blown out and fences were damaged. No civilians were injured.
The Russian Ministry of Defence stated that around 5:00 PM Moscow time, Ukrainian forces attacked Crimea with 20 missiles.
Later, photos of the possible aftermath of the strike on the Belbek airfield were published online.