Russian attack helicopters take off and land unmolested from Berdyansk airport in the occupied territory in Zaporizhia. Despite sufficient range, Ukraine has not yet attacked there.
Berdyansk – A few days after the beginning of Ukraine wars Russia occupied the southern Ukrainian port of Berdyansk in the Zaporizhia region. In its ongoing counter-offensive, Ukraine is attempting to destroy military infrastructure, command posts and ammunition depots. So far, however, there have been no attacks on the airport in Berdyansk – according to experts, there is a simple reason for this.
In the Ukraine war: That’s why Russian helicopters have so far been spared at Berdyansk Airport
According to military experts, Ukrainian artillery is qualitatively superior to Russian, especially in terms of range. So Ukraine does have systems in place to reach the city of Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov, less than 100 kilometers behind the front line. This is also proven by the most recent attack with Himars multiple rocket launchers, which hit a much more distant Russian training camp on the occupied Black Sea island of Jarylhach.
In addition, the port city of Berdyansk is a place on Ukrainian national territory occupied by Moscow in violation of international law and is therefore a legitimate military target. Only in Russia, according to a promise from Kiev, will the weapons supplied by the West not be used.
Helicopter in Berdyansk: Ukraine spares important Russian military base – what is behind it?
Nevertheless, the Russian helicopters stationed at the airport can continue to operate unhindered and from there can quickly reach the front lines. A Ukrainian reserve officer cites possible reasons in a post on the online service Twitter. “It’s a big challenge the large distance between the helicoptersmaking it difficult to combat them effectively with a single missile,” according to the military, online named Tatarigami.
Given the limited availability of long-range weapons, using a missile that “may or may not” destroy some Mi-24 attack helicopters is difficult to justify. In theory, massive missile launches in combination with drones is also an option to overwhelm Russian air defenses, but cost-effectiveness is the problem. Rather, the solution lies in the cheaper ones GLSDB precision rockets (Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb).
Attack on Berdyansk airport with GLSDB missiles? Expert sees cost advantages
Once before, Ukraine was able to achieve great success after the delivery of systems with a longer range. Within weeks of the Himars systems being delivered, Russian ammunition dumps and command centers far behind the front lines could be destroyed until Russia was able to move the logistical positions to the rear. Military experts expect something similar in the future when using the precision rocket GLSDB. “Himars systems have greatly influenced the course of events, these missiles could have an even greater impact,” Andriy Sahorodnyuk, Ukraine’s ex-defense minister, told Al Jazeera news channel about missiles with a range of 150 kilometers.
The Ukrainian Tatarigami sees the lower cost of the GLSDBs compared to Atacms or Stormshadows as a decisive advantage of the weapon. Its ability to change direction and initiate “specific countermeasures” to avoid enemy projectiles makes the weapon a “game changer,” the reserve officer continued. According to the manufacturer, the rockets can also be fired from different platforms. The GLSDBs have probably been in use in Ukraine since the beginning of 2023, according to internal documents obtained by the Reuters news agency. Russia also had March reported repelling a GLSDB missile.
However, an attack on Berdyansk airport could still take time, because a large delivery of the missiles by the USA will not take place until autumn at the earliest. That gave the US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs Laura Cooper in June known. But the Ukrainian troops are apparently also approaching Berdyansk by land. At the end of July, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar wrote on Telegram that the country’s own army was “gradually but surely” advancing in the south towards the cities of Melitopol and Berdyansk on the Azov Sea.
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