Satellite Images Show Russia Building Dozens of Drone Shelters at Crimean Airbase

Russian forces are expanding facilities for housing Geran-type strike drones at the Hvardiiske airbase in occupied Crimea, according to satellite images posted by an OSINT analyst who goes by Dnipro Osint.

The analyst said the new imagery shows more than 20 small shelters protected by earthen embankments under construction. Around 40 smaller structures described as "garages" are also being built. In the analyst's words, these are meant for "storing, servicing and preparing drones for launch."

On the images he posted, Dnipro Osint marked the locations of the new shelters. He also highlighted a section of the airbase where one of the hangars appears to be damaged.

The analyst assessed that the effects of earlier Ukrainian attacks remain visible on the base. He attributed the damage to at least one hangar to a strike by an unmanned aerial vehicle.

He also pointed to what he called a key feature of operations at Hvardiiske: mobile launch platforms are used instead of stationary launchers. "Drones are loaded onto specially equipped vehicles, from which they are subsequently launched on the runway," he wrote.

The airbase has been a repeated target. On 3 July, the Security Service of Ukraine reported that two hangars holding Shahed drones and aviation equipment at the airbase had been hit. Satellite images released on 10 August then revealed damage to hangars used for Geran-type drones following Ukrainian attacks.

Ukrainian forces struck a similar facility on 17 August. On 1 September, Ukraine's General Staff reported a strike on a site in Hvardiiske used for the storage, preparation and launch of strike drones.

The new construction suggests that Russian forces are continuing to build up drone infrastructure at the base despite these strikes.