The fire may be out, but questions remain regarding the size, origin, and payload of the drone used in last night's attack.
Here's what we know so far...
Two blasts - one at 4:20 AM local time and one a minute later at 4:21 AM - were heard from across the harbor.
The attached photo was taken no later than 4:40 AM local time from a neighboring port, according to sources.
The drone(s) came from the direction of Cape Fiolent, were visible to the naked eye, and flew at a low altitude just minutes before detonation.
DJI footage shows numerous charred tanks, but two near the center of the screen appear to have suffered severe structural damage that does NOT match the surrounding thermal damage other tanks experienced.
These tanks can be seen here. Both are heavily engulfed at ~4:40 AM local time. Tank three (right) was also igniting at this time.
I'm pretty confident both tanks were targeted at the same time. Either one UAV detonated between the two and damaged both tanks or two seperate UAVs targeted each.
Locals do report two seperate explosions a minute apart, after all.
So where did they come from? Sea-based platform? Meh. Not too sure about that.
They most likely departed the Odesa region, which means it could be a Mugin-5-style drone with custom payload.
As for the odd southern approach, it was likely an attempt to avoid the neighboring air base, where anti-air guns and electronic jammers are housed.
Final note. The tanks were not extinguished. They simply ran out of fuel to burn. Even intact silos will be unable to release fuel (system wide pressure loss/possible control loss) until repairs can be made.
This was an excellent, cost effective attack by the Ukrainian army.
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