HISTORY

A Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 drone of Turkish manufacture.

30, another Mi-8 and two attack Mi-24/35.

The Orlan-10 drone was destroyed as well.

On Sunday the Ukrainian score was increased by another Su-34 and Mi-24.

One of the Su-34 aircraft, shot down on Saturday, was piloted by Maj.Krasnoyartsev

who had participated in the Russian bombing campaing in Syria. Together with the

second crew member he ejected from the

stricken bomber and once on the ground

they attempted to escape. The second pilot

was killed and Maj. Krasnoyartsev wounded and captured. His wounds were not

life threatening and Ukrainians stated they

want to bring him to the International Criminal Court for his war crimes.

Supposedly during the interrogation he

confessed the he knew he was bombing civilian targets which is to be corroborated

by the flight plan found in his possession.

Question is if the plan only contained the

targets’ coordinates or he, as a higher ranking officer knew what he was attacking.

Airports are targeted again

According to the Pentagon estimates, as of

March 11 the Ukrainian AF still had 56 combat ready military aircraft. Despite flying

a limited number of missions, in comparison to the Russian opponent, it still needs to

be considered a front line power. This is indirectly confirmed by the change of Russian

tactics. On Friday, March 11, the military airports Ivano-Frankivsk and Luck in the west

of the country became the targets of the

missile attacks. The aero engine military

repair factory in Luck was bombed. For the

first time during the hostilities the airport in

the city of Dnipro, in the middle of Eastern

Ukraine, was bombed. The Ivano-Frankivsk

airport was the target for the missiles on

Sunday, March 13.

It’s not only the aggressor troops that successfully attack the airports. The Russians

deployed a large helicopter unit on the base

near occupied Kherson. It became the target of the Ukrainian missile attack on March

7. Kiev maintained to have destroyed 30 Russian helicopters, satellite images however

showed that only six were hit and damaged.

The Russians did not learn the lesson from

this warning and still left at the airport the

large number of unprotected helicopters

parked tightly one to another. On March 15

the punishment arrived in the form of a new,

much better prepared Ukrainian missile

attack. At least 16 helicopters were hit out

of which 15 were completely destroyed and

one damaged. The large number of military

vehicles burnt within the base perimeter.

At this point the only conclusion to be made

is that the intense air combat continues and

losses on both sides mount. We can only

wish that until the next INFO Eduard release this madness will have stopped.

Ukrainian An-26 shot down on the first day

of the war in the Kiev area.

April 2022

INFO Eduard

43