Special Operations Forces Eliminate S-400 Battalion Commander in Crimea Along with Launcher

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces destroyed a launcher and killed the commander of a Russian S-400 air defense missile battalion in temporarily occupied Crimea.

The OSINT project KIU (Russian Officers Killed in Ukraine) reported that the strike targeted elements of Russia’s air defense system on the peninsula. The attack was carried out by drones on the night of February 25.

In addition to the destroyed equipment, the occupying forces lost at least one officer – Lieutenant Colonel Khasan Tumgoev, the battalion commander. Local media in the Republic of Ingushetia, his home region, have also confirmed his death.

Tumgoev was a graduate of the Yaroslavl Higher Military School of Air Defense. Before Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, he took part in the Russian military operation in Syria.

Strike on the S-400 in Crimea

During the strike, a drone operated by Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces destroyed a self-propelled launcher of the invaders’ S-400 Triumf air defense missile system.

The hit occurred near the village of Sofiivka in the Simferopol district.

The Ukrainian drone struck the transport-launch containers holding the surface-to-air missiles. This triggered the ignition of the solid rocket fuel in their engines, resulting in the complete destruction of the vehicle.

After that, the operators of the Special Operations Forces’ strike drones hunted down the 92N6E multifunctional radar, a key component of the S-400 system.

This radar is responsible for detecting airborne targets, tracking and identifying them, and then locking onto them to guide surface-to-air missiles.

Another target of the Special Operations Forces’ drone was a Pantsir-S1 air defense system, which had been protecting key facilities and enemy air defense positions on the peninsula. It was specifically tasked with countering Ukrainian drones and missiles attacking Russian air defense systems and radars.