Vladimir Putin’s pilots are resorting to less accurate gliding bombs as they shy away from engaging up close with Ukraine’s air defences, UK military chiefs said on Monday.
The Ministry of Defence assessment came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his forces had erected a “sky shield” to help protect Europe as a whole from Russian aggression.
With Ukraine pursuing a counter-offensive on the ground, Russian tactical combat aircraft have typically carried out more than 100 sorties every day this summer, the MoD said in an intelligence update.
“But these are almost always restricted to operating over Russian-controlled territory due to the threat from Ukrainian air defences,” it said.
“Russia has attempted to overcome this issue by increasingly using basic free-fall bombs with range-extending glide attachments. Aircraft can release these many kilometres from their targets, but they have yet to demonstrate consistent accuracy.
“At the start of Ukraine’s southern counter-offensive from June 2023, Russian attack helicopters proved effective. However, in recent weeks Russia appears to have been less able to generate effective tactical airpower in the south.”
President Zelensky accused Russia of hitting a blood transfusion centre in Ukraine’s Kupyan district late on Saturday – describing it as a war crime committed by "beasts".
Multiple Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight Saturday into Sunday, which came after Ukraine’s forces successfully hit a number of Russian naval vessels, left six people dead.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 70 drones and missiles from aircraft over the Caspian Sea, including Iranian-made, Shahed-136/131 strike UAVs.
Mr Zelensky said that despite the strikes, US and German air defence systems were yielding "significant results".
“Complete protection against terror is needed here, so that later there is no need to think about protecting other nations from it,” he said on social media late on Sunday.
“Ukraine can win this battle, and our sky shield will eventually guarantee security for the whole of Europe. I am grateful to every state and every leader who helps!”
Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, located nine miles southwest of the capital, briefly suspended flights Sunday morning after a drone was shot down in the airspace around the city.
That came after Ukraine used an unmanned sea drone to blast a hole in a Russian oil tanker.
