Roman Svitan: We Are Waiting For The Continuation Of The Banquet

About a third of Russia's strategic aviation fleet is out of service.

Ukrainian drones attacked four airfields of the Russians. Dozens of cruise missile carriers were destroyed or damaged.

The Charter97.org website asked Charter97.org to comment on the SBU's brilliant operation to a reserve AFU colonel, military expert and flight instructor Roman Svitan:

- The Russians claimed to have foiled one of the attacks in the east. At least, they themselves report that five airfields were attacked. One of the main airfields where the attack succeeded is the "Bely" airfield, it's just a camp airfield, if I may say so. And the base airfield is Ukrainka. They are located next to each other, one in the Irkutsk region, one in the Far East Territory.

It is on this link, "Ukrainka"-"Bely", that the 326th Heavy Bomber Aviation Division of the Russian Federation is stationed. At one time, the commander of this division, when it stood in Tartu, in Estonia, was Dzhokhar Dudayev - a pilot, the first president of the free republic of Ichkeria.

So, ours tried to hit both "Ukrainka" and "White". The attack on Ukrainka was probably thwarted by the Russians. But on the "White" successfully worked, there were Tu-95 and Tu-22M3. Destroyed at least four Tu-95, quite seriously damaged a few more.

This is if we talk about the so-called Trans-Urals, the eastern regions of Russia. But the Security Service of Ukraine also attacked the European part of the Russian Federation in the so-called "Web" mode.

The airfield in Ivanovo, aka "Severny" was attacked, where there were mainly A-50s, one of which was damaged. Also hit was "Dyagilevo" near Ryazan - there damaged aircraft Tu-22M3 and Tu-95. And the airfield "Olenya", already closer to the Kola Peninsula, where are based Tu-95, Tu-22M3 and Tu-160. There, too, recorded lesions of these aircraft, not destruction, but damage. How serious - will become clear in the coming days.

That is, these aircraft can theoretically continue to perform their tasks after repair, if they can be restored. But basically, after this kind of defeat, the planes go to the so-called "Aurora" - for disassembly. Since the Russians have no more production, and they cannot launch the production of this kind of airplanes, there is nowhere to take them.

These are the so-called irrecoverable losses. Thus, Russia's strategic aviation suffered a very serious defeat - about a third of the strategic aviation fleet was put out of service irreparably, it is not just damage, it is a loss forever.

A great operation conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine, which was personally led by General Malyuk. This attack had reportedly been in preparation for over a year. Such operations are really prepared for months, sometimes years. And in the end, the attack succeeded, it's a good job. We are waiting, as they say, for the banquet to continue.

- Why can't Russia produce strategic bombers today?

- The reason is that the technological base of the Soviet Union was distributed among various republics. After the collapse of the USSR, many key production facilities ended up outside Russia. For example, engine production was partly in Ukraine - and these plants no longer work for Russia. Therefore, no such airplane can be assembled without the participation of these republics.

In addition, these countries are not eager to participate in the creation of Russian strategic aviation. As for those airplanes that the Russians are trying to assemble - they are assembling one working airplane out of three or four old airplanes. But these are not new machines, but simply dismantling the existing ones for spare parts. This greatly reduces the total number of combat units of this level.

- Will airstrikes on Ukraine become less intense after this attack?

- Hardly. The fact is that strategic aviation carries three main types of missiles: Kh-101, Kh-555 and Kh-55. But Russia has other means - Kalibr cruise missiles, Iskander ballistic systems, KN-23. Even if we have damaged a third of their strategic bombers, two thirds are still in service. They are quite capable of carrying out their tasks.

So there will probably be no fewer strikes. But it's definitely unpleasant for Russia - especially strategically.

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