This has a significant impact on the logistical support of the RF Armed Forces and "a significant psychological impact on the Russian leadership." The information, voiced by an unnamed official, was published by Reuters on August 19.
“Now we estimate that the events at the Saki airfield on August 9 put out of action more than half of the combat aircraft of the naval aviation of the Black Sea Fleet,” the source said.
He added that Russia's Black Sea Fleet was "struggling to function much more than a coastal defense flotilla," which only occasionally launched missile strikes. Explosions at an air base near Novofedorivka on the western coast of the peninsula thwarted an attempt to threaten an amphibious attack by the invaders on Odessa.
The intelligence official also said that overall the war was in "a moment close to operational stagnation."
"The ground forces of neither side have sufficient concentrated ground combat power to launch effective offensives that would in any way significantly affect the course of the war," he said.