RUSSIA AND UKRAINE FIGHTING FOR AIR

Over the night of October 25, new waves of Russian strikes hit Ukrainian military facilities throughout the country. Explosions thundered in the Cherkassy, Khmelnitsky, Kherson regions as well as in Kyiv. The Ukrainian authorities confirmed damage to an infrastructure facility in the Khmelnytsky region. The local media claimed that Russian strikes hit the Starokonstantinov airfield, which is coming under Russian fire on a regular basis. Russian missiles are unlikely to damage Ukrainian aircraft at the airfield. Thanks to NATO reconnaissance support, they take off immediately when Russian strategic aviation prepares for attack. But Russian precision strikes destroy large warehouses there, including those with NATO missiles. On the other hand, the Ukrainian military and their NATO partners turned out to be unprepared for Russian strikes with upgraded UAVs at the airfields in the rear areas. Over the past month, the Russian Lancet, whose range was reportedly increased, hit at least three Ukrainian aircraft at parking lots in the Krivyi Rih and Mykolaiv regions. Russian strikes in the deep rear areas are not the only threat for the remaining Ukrainian warplanes. They are still often intercepted by Russian air defense forces during the combat missions over the frontlines. Russian Defense Minister claimed that Russian forces received some complexes that allowed to shot down 24 Ukrainian planes in five days. It turned out to be the S-400 Triumph air defense system in conjunction with the A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft. Indeed, the Russian military reported the destruction of an increased number of Ukrainian aircraft over the past week. According to the Russian military, two MiG-29s were shot down in the DPR and Kirovograd region on October 25. One more L-39 combat training aircraft was shot down in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The interception of the record number of seven Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jets was reported on October 20. In its turn, the Ukrainian military responds with rare but fruitful attacks on the Russian rear airfields. Which are only possible thanks to NATO weapons and reconnaissance means. On October 17, Ukrainian forces test launched ATACMS missiles that were recently supplied by the US. They struck at the airfield of Russian front-line aviation near Berdyansk. After the identification of fragments of ammunition, it was considered that Ukrainians used the entire long-range arsenal of M-142 HIMARS or M-270 MLRS installations, including ATACMS MGM-140A Block 1 missiles, GMLRS M31ER and GLSDB missiles with GBU-39 gliding bomb. The strike was carried out with cluster munitions. On the same day, Ukrainian forces attacked the Russian dual-use airfield in Lugansk, also with cluster munitions. Russian officials did not disclose the losses. According to the most daring unofficial estimates, 9 Russian helicopters were destroyed at the both airfields. While the Russian military is keeping Ukrainian Air Force at bay, eliminating its aircraft with constant strikes in rear and on the frontlines, it is losing its own aircraft due to its blunders.