Ukraine Eliminates S-400 Battalion Commander in Precision Drone Strike on Occupied Crimea

A Ukrainian special operations strike has reportedly killed the commander of a Russian S-400 air defense battalion in temporarily occupied Crimea, dealing another blow to Moscow’s layered air defense network on the peninsula, according to the OSINT project KIU (Russian Officers Killed in Ukraine) on February 27.

Ukrainian Special Operations Forces carried out the attack using drones during the night of February 25, targeting key components of Russian air defenses deployed in Crimea.

The strike destroyed a launcher belonging to the S-400 surface-to-air missile system and resulted in personnel losses, including at least one senior officer.

Open-source investigators identified the killed officer as Lieutenant Colonel Khasan Tumgoyev, who served as a battalion commander within the Russian S-400 air defense system. His death was also confirmed by local media outlets in Russia’s Republic of Ingushetia, where he was originally from.

Tumgoyev was a graduate of the Yaroslavl Higher Military School of Air Defense and had previously participated in Russia’s military campaign in Syria prior to the full-scale war against Ukraine.

The reported strike highlights Ukraine’s continued efforts to degrade Russian air defense assets in occupied Crimea, a region that serves as a critical hub for Russian aviation, missile launches, and logistics operations supporting Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

Earlier, Ukraine’s Armed Forces struck several high-value Russian military targets overnight, including radar and aviation control systems in occupied Crimea.

The operation was carried out near the city of Dzhankoi, where Ukrainian forces successfully hit a P-18 “Terek” radar station along with an RSP-6M2 airfield control system, the military said.

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