Russian Su-30 fighters were deployed at Belbek airfield (Crimea, near Sevastopol), RIA Novosti reports with reference to the acting governor of Sevastopol, Sergey Menyailo.

Earlier Belbek airfield was used for transportation of Ukrainian government officials and a unit of air defense forces was deployed there. "The new Su-30 aircraft have already been deployed at Belbek", — Menyailo said.

He didn’t unveil the number of the fighters deployed there; however, RIA Novosti sources reported that this refers to about 20 Su-30 fighters.

Menyailo reminded that Russian government made a decision to transform Belbek into a joint airfield (civil and military). Additional aprons and other facilities must be constructed to service military aircraft.

Su-30 (NATO reporting name: Flanker-C) is a Soviet/Russian two-seat multi-role fighter. It was derived from the Su-27UB Fighter/Trainer. It is designed for controlling the groups of fighters during air superiority operations, supporting operations carried out by other branches of aviation, provision of air cover for the troops and objects, destroying air, ground and surface targets as well as carrying out aerial reconnaissance missions.