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August 11, 2022


Biggest

hit yet against the Russian Air Force

Jens Gisel

multimedia editor.

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Oliver Schlomer

multimedia editor.

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According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, nine Russian military planes were destroyed in the August 9 explosion at the Saki airbase on the Russian-held Crimea peninsula.

The loss accounts for about a fifth of all Russian military aircraft destroyed so far, because according to the open source platform Oryx, 38 military aircraft have been destroyed to date.

But the loss of ammunition and fuel stocks is far worse than the loss of planes, military expert Mick Ryan wrote on Twitter.

For Russia, the question will now also arise as to whether Crimea will continue to be a secure base.

So far, Russia had used the now badly damaged military airport intensively for attacks on southern Ukraine.

Even if the destruction of the planes, which Russia has denied, is now documented, one question remains: if it was the Ukrainians - which they themselves continue to deny - how did they do it?

The resort town of Nowofyodorovka is 200 kilometers behind the front line.

However, Ukraine's longest-range weapons to date can only reach targets up to about 80 kilometers behind the front.

The speculation ranges from an act of sabotage to a commando operation by Ukrainian special forces.

The Ukrainian OSINT project Informnapalm even suspects American ATACMS missiles.

However, the USA states that it has not delivered such missiles.

Another option is the Hrim-2 short-range ballistic missile, which is said to have a range of up to 500 kilometers.

This new weapon was developed by Ukraine itself.

rago.

August 7, 2022


New phase of the war

According to the American think tank ISW, volunteer battalions are being recruited in more and more Russian regions.

The volunteers are to provide technical, medical and logistical support in Ukraine.

According to the Americans, general mobilization should be avoided in this way.

Men between the ages of 18 and 60 are recruited, who undertake to serve for six months.

A news agency from Omsk reported that the recruits receive a monthly salary of around 730 euros, which increases to up to 2,000 euros when they enter the combat zone.

According to the British Ministry of Defence, the war in Ukraine is entering a new phase.

The heaviest fighting could shift to a front line almost 350 kilometers long, which stretches southwest near Zaporizhia to Cherson and thus runs parallel to the Dnipro River.

In southern Ukraine, Russian troops have been on the defensive for some time.

Russian forces are massing troops in anticipation of Ukraine's counteroffensive or in preparation for a possible attack, the British said.

Long Russian military convoys were moving southwest from Ukraine's Donbass region.