Russia planning to increase the use of its air force in Ukraine
Russian commanders have decided to increase the use of air force in the war against Ukraine, reported the news outlet Important Stories, citing a source close to the Russian Defense Ministry.
"They used to spare the aircraft before. They almost never flew into the zone of the Ukrainian air defense. Now we decided to change the tactics," the interlocutor said, adding that Russia still has an undeniable advantage in aircraft over the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
He believes that Russian planes and helicopters "will be massively shot down," but the Ukrainian Armed Forces will still have problems.
However, it will be difficult for Russian warplanes to suppress the Ukrainian air defense. The Ukrainian Forces have medium-range systems. And the aircraft must fly at a low altitude to "hide" from the Ukrainian radars. But then they become vulnerable to portable anti-aircraft missile systems such as Stingers.
Earlier, the Financial Times, reported, citing sources, that Russia was deploying military aircraft to the Ukrainian borders. The newspaper's interlocutors in NATO said that Moscow is preparing an air campaign, during which it will try to disable the Ukrainian air defense.
According to the latest data of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russia has lost 298 aircraft and 286 helicopters during the war.