Russia’s Rossiya 24 news channel has revealed the first footage from the Shayrat airbase, which the United States hit with a volley of 59 Tomahawk missiles after an alleged “chemical attack” in Idlib earlier this week.
The video shows a heavily damaged reinforced aviation hangar, its roof penetrated by an apparent direct hit. It’s unclear from the footage whether there had been aircraft inside the hangar.
A number of undamaged hangars with aircraft inside are visible in the distance.
The concrete runway and driveways seemingly sustained minor to moderate damage, as only relatively small holes can be seen in them.
The video was filmed by Russia24 correspondent Evgeny Poddubny at the scene. He also posted a couple of photos on social media – one shows an undamaged runway littered with shrapnel and the other an intact Syrian MiG21. Nine of the aircraft stationed at the base were destroyed by the missile strike, according to Poddubny, citing “preliminary” data.
A couple of photos have been posted online by war photographer Aleksandr Pushin. One of them shows some burned out machinery inside one of the reinforced hangars.
However, another photo shows a stockpile of aircraft munitions and weapons near a hangar intact.