MOSCOW. Nov 28 (Interfax-AVN) - S-400 air defense missile systems stationed in Crimea cover all of the Black Sea and a substantial part of Ukraine, according to the former Black Sea Fleet commander and former head of the State Duma Defense Committee, Adm. Vladimir Komoyedov.
"Given the range of this system, I believe that it covers all of the Black Sea and a substantial part of the Ukrainian territory," Komoyedov told Interfax.
The peninsula has other air defense systems, including Pantsyr, at its service, he added.
The press service of the Southern Military District told Interfax earlier that a battalion set of S-400 air defense missile systems would soon reinforce Crimea's air defense network. In the past, Crimea was protected by three battalion sets of S-400 missile systems stationed near Yevpatoriya, Feodosiya, and Sevastopol.
The system operates on a range of 400 kilometers, which covers the airspace of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions, some of the airspace of the Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro, and Kirovohrad regions, as well as part of the airspace of Moldova, Romania, and Turkey.
S-400 Triumf designed and built by Almaz-Antey is tasked with destroying all modern and prospective air attack means, including strategic bombers, and ballistic and cruise missiles. It can also be used against ground sites. The complex operates on a range of 400 kilometers and an altitude of 30 kilometers.