Russia tests new fighter aircraft in Crimea, - Newsweek

Russia's Crimean Black Sea Fleet has tested its recent acquisition of Su-30SM military aircraft by practicing bombing ground targets.

This is reported by Censor.NET referring to Newsweek citing Russian media and Russia's Black Sea Fleet press services. The Russian military expects to receive around 30 modern Su-30SM multi-purpose fighter aircraft, which can also be used as bombers, by the end of the year and the military district around Crimea has been one of the focal points of Russia's reinforcement strategy.

According to a spokesman for the Black Sea Fleet Nikolay Voskresenskiy, Su-30SM were used in practice bombings for the first time in Crimea. They also practiced hitting ground targets with the Su-24M supersonic fighters.

As also reported, Since Russia annexed the territory of Crimea from Ukraine, it has made several moves to re-arm the peninsula. In particular, in July, Russian Ministry of Defence announced it would soon be stationing a squadron of Tu-22M3 supersonic, strategic bombers on the peninsula, in response to NATO's Eastern reinforcement strategy.