14:00 BST
Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist
We’ve been reporting today on Ukrainian claims to have attacked two amphibious Russian planes – video of which we have geolocated to an air base near Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.
The Be-12 Chayka is a Soviet anti-submarine aircraft designed in the 1950s. Built by the manufacturer Beriev to be capable of flying from both land and water, the Be-12 was the successor to the Be-6 flying boat and shares many of its predecessor’s amphibious features.
To demonstrate its age, the photograph used in the graphic below shows a Be-12 on display at a Russian museum.
“Efforts to replace the aging Be-12s with more modern Be-200 anti-submarine aircraft have stalled in recent years,” Alexander Lord from the Sibylline security consultancy told me.
“While old and designed for a different age of naval warfare, the Be-12s have likely played a role in conducting maritime patrols and protecting Russia’s Black Sea Fleet from Ukraine’s uncrewed surface vehicles or maritime drones,” said Lord.
According to the UK Ministry of Defence, external, the aircraft remains a “key Russia asset” in those air patrols that are “flying out of bases in occupied Crimea.”
“It is possible that this was just a target of opportunity, or it may be that Ukraine is seeking to degrade Russia’s maritime surveillance capabilities in advance of a specific operation,” added Mike Plunkett, a naval expert from the defence intelligence company, Janes.