Russian attack | Military expert: Ukraine manufactures many different types of aircraft – “The race with Russia has intensified”

Ukrainian military intelligence became public on Friday in a way that could easily be considered pure psychological warfare.

A representative of military intelligence Vadym Skibitskyi revealed that a list of military targets located on Russian soil has been compiled.

“There are a lot of targets,” Skibitskyi said Ukrainian Pravda according to the magazine. “They are numbered in order of importance.”

Undoubtedly, it is psychological warfare. They want to send a message to the Russians that their bases and depots are not safe.

But there is cover for the threat. Ukraine has repeatedly attacked the Russian side with its drones, and last summer the pace accelerated to such an extent that individual attacks may no longer cross the news threshold.

It’s all about airplanes. They have proven to be weapons with which Ukraine can at least somewhat level the scales.

“The war is returning to Russian soil”, the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi declared at the end of July, after drones had crashed into office buildings in Moscow.

Russian on the ground and on the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula this year there have already been more than 190 drone attacks, the British channel The BBC estimates.

Up until now, Ukraine carried out its largest drone attack at the end of August.

There were dozens of explosive planes in the air in different regions of Russia, and the worst destruction was caused at the Pskov airbase near Estonia. It is about 700 kilometers from the northern borders of Ukraine.

Russia has carried out its deadliest strikes with missiles, but also attacks with drones. Most recently, Russia made a big one, more than 30 airplanes of the attack early Sunday. Most of the planes were on their way to the capital, Kyiv. Ukrainian anti-aircraft managed to shoot most of them down.

Airplanes the use in war is not surprising in itself, says the head of the National Defense University’s military skills department, colonel Pekka Turunen.

“There were already signs in the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020,” says Turunen. “That’s when the Turkish-made Bayraktar airplane emerged very strongly.”

The usability of drones for reconnaissance, targeting and surveillance has been known for a long time, says Turunen.

“Now then, the Turks have brought this second aspect to it at Bayraktar, the use of strike-capable drones on the battlefield.”

The Ukrainians have also used Bayraktars, especially in the early stages of the war of aggression against Russia.

Thence colonel Turunen says that he is mildly surprised that the role of drones on the battlefield has become so significant. According to him, the image of the war is also closely monitored in the Defense Forces.

The battlefield of airplanes already extends far beyond the front lines.

Ukraine managed to make the first strikes deep into Russian soil last December, when the target was, among other things, the Engels air base, about 600 kilometers from eastern Ukraine.

“Ukraine is estimated to have used Soviet-made Tu-141 aircraft with jet engines in the Engels attack,” says Turunen. “One cannot be 100 percent sure.”

Unearthing airplanes from the Cold War would fit the picture as far as the underdog of the war, Ukraine, has had to resort to creative solutions.

“These airplanes have not been seen since last December,” says Turunen. “Maybe Ukraine doesn’t have them anymore.”

Ukraine has accelerated its own product development and production during the war.

“It is known that Ukraine produces quite a lot of different types of airplanes at the moment. The race with Russia has accelerated.”

Turunen says that Ukraine is estimated to use the Bober or Majava type of aircraft the most. It is an airplane that was quickly developed under the pressure of war of The New York Times was only introduced in May.

“Bober’s continuous flight distance is estimated to be 800 kilometers,” says Turunen. “It is not possible to attack with drones any further than that from within the borders of Ukraine.”

Turunen points out that if the target is to be destroyed, the drone must also have the ability to carry a sufficient amount of explosives. Of course, every extra kilo shortens the range of the airplane.

Not at all currently, Ukrainian drones do not reach the borders of Finland.

“We don’t know anything special, it’s very peaceful in our surrounding areas,” says Turunen.

There are no objects of obvious interest to Ukraine near the eastern border.

“Perhaps not quite near the border,” says Turunen. “For example, there is a helicopter base near St. Petersburg, but it is presumably quite empty. Of the fighter bases, the closest to us is next to Petroskoi, and there we are already very far from the borders of Ukraine.”