Ukraine likely lost plane again right at the airfield – Forbes (video)

A Russian drone targeted a Russian missile at a hangar where a MiG-29 was likely parked.

In the summer, a big scandal was caused by a story when a Russian reconnaissance drone flew unhindered to the Mirgorod airfield and aimed a Russian missile at the military aircraft parked there . The other day, this story seems to have repeated itself in Dnepr, Forbes writes .

Thus, on Friday or shortly before it, a Russian reconnaissance drone flew unhindered over the Aviatorskoye-Dnepr airbase near the city of Dnepr. This is approximately 95 km from the front line.

As seen in footage released by Russian propaganda, the drone targeted a shelter that likely housed a Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jet. Minutes later, an Iskander ballistic missile fell and exploded directly above the shelter, likely destroying the MiG.

Strike on the airfield

As Forbes notes, since the fall of 2023, the Russians, using such tactics, have likely been able to destroy at least two Su-27s, four MiG-29s, an Su-25, and possibly an Mi-24.

“It’s a staggering loss rate for a military that may have fewer than 100 operational combat aircraft and only 50 or so warships,” the publication writes.

The authors of the publication cite the opinion of Jack Watling, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute in London. According to him, such successful Iskander attacks are possible only because Russia is conducting “continuous and close surveillance” of Ukraine. At the same time, Ukraine still does not have enough air defense systems to fully protect its airspace – even over air bases.

Forbes notes that the West’s much-anticipated F-16s and Mirage 2000s could suffer the same fate if Ukraine fails to significantly improve its air defenses.

Destruction of aircraft in Mirgorod

As UNIAN reported, on July 1, the Russians launched a missile attack on the Mirgorod military airfield in the Poltava region, where several Ukrainian combat aircraft were located at the time. Former representative of the Ukrainian Air Force Yuriy Ignat, commenting on the information about the attack, said that there was a strike on the airfield, there were losses , but “not as many as the enemy claims.”

However, the greatest discontent of Ukrainian society was caused by the fact that the missile strike was preceded by a rather long flight of a Russian reconnaissance drone over the airfield. Military expert Valeriy Romanenko noted at the time that the airfield air defense was obliged to shoot down the reconnaissance drone .

On August 16, history repeated itself in Dnepr .

(C)UNIAN 2024