Air defense units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to destroy russian aerospace forces, and since the start of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, they have shown incredible results.
One of such units was visited by journalists of the Ukrainian Military TV and ArmyInform. A marine with a call sign "Mauser" said since Ukrainian forces launched the counter-offensive, anti-aircraft support of units became even more important:
Read more: Ukraine’s Paratroopers Down russia’s Su-30 Fighter Jet with ZU-23-2 Anti-Aircraft Сannon (Video)
"The enemy has started to feel the lack of ammunition for artillery and thus is trying to compensate for it by aviation sorties. Many planes came from Crimea, they were working daily, all day long," he said.
The other day he tracked and eliminated another Su-25. As soon as he noticed the enemy aircraft, he pointed an FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS at it and launched the missile. "Mauser" also caught the right moment for this: the plane was just starting a maneuver, turning away from the soldier’s position.
The marine noted that the speed of aircraft so close to the ground was not that fast to run away from a missile, and the Stinger travels with a speed of 750 m/s which was enough to catch the aircraft.
The marine also stressed that the most important thing is not just to shoot the aircraft down, but also not to allow it to strike its target.
And the Ukrainian air defenses were pretty effective in accomplishing this. We can say that not just from the pace of Ukrainians pushing the russian troops out from occupied territories, but also by the number of attack aircraft destroyed.
A few days ago Air Force Command published calculations showing russian aerospace forceslost over $150 millions in various aircraft, including the $33 million worth of Su-25s. And over just four days after that russians had lost another seven planes, making the total number of attack jets lost during the Ukrainian counter-offensive three times larger.
Let’s count: Su-25 and Su-34 shot down on September 10, another Su-25SM taken down by the 92nd Brigade the next day, Su-25 destroyed by the National Guard the day after, and finally Su-25 and Su-24M eliminated on September 13. One more was not reported separately, but reflected in the daily report on russian casualties.
And at the same time, Ukrainian General Staff notes in the report published on September 14 evening that "the intensity of russian shelling in the Kharkiv direction has significantly decreased", which supports the idea voiced by the marine: russians are forced to mitigate the crumbled artillery fire support by recklessly sending more aviation on suicidal missions.
Read more: How russian Bet on Aviation and Artillery Сannonade Crumbled and What It Meant For the Ukrainian Offensive in the East
