HISTORY

Shot of the Patriot system in a video released by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Detail showing silhouettes of two aircraft and three Mi-8 helicopters with the date

May 13, 2023.

NASAMS system score.

The S-300 battery marked with four aircraft, 21 missiles with a flat flight path,

and 15 rockets kills.

Ukrainian Armed Forces started pushing in

three directions – from Velyka Novosilka

near Vuhledar towards Mariupol, from Orikhiv

towards Tokmak and Melitopol, and near Lobova

on the banks of the Kakhovka Reservoir.

For Russian propaganda, this was a welcome

change. In anticipation of the Ukrainian

offensive, they began publishing various false

footage of Western military equipment being

destroyed. There was an instance of using

a photo of a destroyed Turkish Leopard 2 tank

from Syria and a video of a Russian helicopter

destroying combine harvesters and other

agricultural machinery that didn't resemble

tanks at all. After the actual start of the

Ukrainian offensive, true losses of Western

equipment were, of course, revealed.

The Russians had been building fortifications

in southern Ukraine for almost a year. These

include several lines of trenches and, most

importantly, extensive minefields. These

minefields proved to be the most challenging

obstacle. In one attack attempt, a group of

Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and several

Leopard 2 tanks got stuck on the mines. The

Russians filmed this group from multiple angles

and repeatedly published the footage until the

Ukrainians made progress and withdrew the

damaged vehicles for repair. Unlike Russian

equipment, Western military vehicles fulfill

their primary purpose – protecting the crew.

August 2023

Most Leopard and Bradley machines did not

explode after being hit; their crews survived,

and the vehicles can be repaired later.

Although the Ukrainian advance is slow, it is

steady – they have liberated more territory in

a month than the Russians occupied during their

winter offensive in six months. In addition to

the mines, Russian helicopters initially slowed

down the Ukrainians. Ka-52 helicopters were

deployed to perform long-range missile strikes

on enemy equipment since the Ukrainian side

couldn't get air defense systems close enough

to the frontlines, and portable Stinger missiles

have limited range. The Ukrainians reported

shooting down one to two Ka-52 helicopters

almost daily, but only one was officially

confirmed. The confirmed one was captured on

video flying with a damaged tail. The Russian

side claimed that the tail was damaged due

to the firing of their own missile, but this is

unlikely. It is more plausible that it was hit by

a Ukrainian surface-to-air missile. Thanks to its

two counter-rotating rotors, the helicopter was

able to continue flying and make an emergency

landing.

The Ka-52 helicopters primarily operated

from the Berdiansk base, where satellite

imagery captured them. However, for unknown

If there were no war, this shot of the Mi-8 on a field base would be downright idyllic. Notice the machine gun in the

helicopter’s nose.

INFO Eduard

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