The day before, the chief Ukrainian intelligence officer Kyrylo Budanov promised "the destruction of the occupiers on the peninsula" in the coming days.

On the morning of August 23 - the Day of the State Flag and the opening of the Crimean Platform summit - residents of the peninsula reported at least seven explosions in western Crimea. Shots were heard in the area of Cape Tarkhankut, namely near the village of Karadzhi (Olenivka), where the radar and anti-aircraft systems of the occupiers are located.

Subsequently, the GUR of Ukraine (Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine) confirmed the operation in occupied Crimea. The agency reported on the defeat of the Russian S-400 Triumf long- and medium-range anti-aircraft missile system. In addition to the complex itself, the personnel of the occupiers suffered from the Ukrainian attack.

Immediately, several anonymous sources from western Crimea testified to a large number of dead and wounded Russians. Residents of Saky and Bakhchisaray reported the traffic jam from the ambulances, which stretched towards Sevastopol.

Sources of the Crimean partisans from the "Atesh" movement report that the military hospital in Sevastopol is overcrowded. The wounded Russians are placed in the corridors and canteens of the hospital.

At the same time, not a single truck was released from Balaklava and Sevastopol, - the subscribers of the "Crimean Wind" telegram channel report and assume that this is due to a traffic jam on the highway.

After some time, information appeared on the flightradar24 website about the departure from Sevastopol of the special flight unit "Russia", which is subordinate to the Office of the President of the Russian Federation and provides the transportation of Russian high-ranking officials.

Russian propaganda telegram channels reported that a few hours before the events, a US Navy Lockheed EP-3E Aries II electronic reconnaissance aircraft was spotted at Cape Tarkhankut, 250 km from Crimea.

In the afternoon, the Flag Day celebration moved to the water area of Zmiiny Island. Ukrainian spies reported a strike on a Russian plane in the Black Sea. According to the military, the occupiers' plane tried to attack military vessels of the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine but was repulsed.

Meanwhile, civilian residents of Crimea also celebrated the state holiday. Locals from different parts of the peninsula send their photos with Ukrainian flags. In particular, from the Shaan-Kaya rock near Alupka and from Sevastopol.