Colonel Khodarenok called the strikes of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine a preparation for the summer campaign
On the night of May 25, the Russian Armed Forces launched one of the most powerful strikes on the territory of Ukraine since the start of the military operation. The raid involved 298 drones and 69 missiles. Whether Kiev should expect a "raid by thousands of drones" and why such actions by the Russian Armed Forces can be regarded as preparations for the summer campaign of 2025 - in the material of the military observer Gazeta.Ru", retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenka.
367 Russian air attack weapons, including unmanned aerial vehicles, cruise and tactical missiles (UAV -298, rocket-69), took part in this massive fire strike. Military facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Zhytomyr and Ternopil regions were bombed.
"Russia is raining hellfire on Ukraine," The Economist described the result of this strike in these words.
First of all, the strikes were carried out against enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine, which produce rocket weapon components, radio electronics, explosives, rocket fuel and attack unmanned aerial vehicles for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as radio intelligence and satellite communications centers.
Just a week ago, the Russian Armed Forces carried out (as it seemed at the time) a record attack by unmanned aerial vehicles on the capital of Ukraine and the region. At least 273 Geranium-type drones were involved.
But on May 25, a much larger number of air attack weapons took part in another strike. And it is quite obvious that even more UAVs and missiles will take part in the raids from time to time.
"The raid of a thousand drones"
According to the British The Economist, "Russia plans to increase production of unmanned aerial vehicles to 500 per day, which suggests that attacks in swarms of 1,000 units may become a reality."
By the way, the air attack raid 1000 is a purely British invention. The term "thousand Bomber raid" was first used to describe three night bombing raids conducted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) against German cities in the summer of 1942 during World War II. The term was coined by the head of Bomber Command, RAF Marshal Arthur Travers Harris. It was under his leadership that the British Lancasters, Halifaxes and Stirlings turned German cities into rubble.
The bombing was carried out according to carefully developed methods at RAF headquarters. First, high-explosive bombs were dropped to destroy roofs and expose wooden structures of buildings, then incendiary bombs, and again high-explosive bombs to hinder the work of fire services. As a result of such bombardments, a firestorm formed, in which the temperature reached 1,500 degrees. Civilians died from lack of oxygen even in bomb shelters.
Today, the descendants of Arthur Harris teach us about humanism.
Targets of massive strikes
As for the forces and means of air defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, today they are not able to effectively repel the attacks of Russian air attack weapons, the Business Insider edition reports one of the representatives of the air defense command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to the Ukrainian military, the Russian Air Force is currently using modified versions of the Geran UAV with an engine that allows them to reach speeds of more than 180 miles per hour (about 290 km/h). The weight of the UAV warhead has doubled or tripled. To increase the complexity of the raid, the Russian Armed Forces use false targets, and the very construction of the strike (altitude-time schedule) It does not repeat itself from time to time and is characterized by great ingenuity. Among other things, the latest Russian UAV models are "not afraid" of Ukrainian electronic warfare.
Previously, the Russian Aerospace Forces usually used Geraniums at low altitudes in order to reduce the range of their detection by enemy radars. However, now, according to the testimony of the AFU fighters, the targets of the "Geraniums" are still being approached at extremely low altitudes.
Then the flight altitude of the Russian UAVs increases to 2000-2500 meters, that is, the "Geraniums" at this moment are beyond the range of M2 Browning machine guns, usually used by mobile units of the air defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As for the FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS used to destroy low-altitude targets, there is a very, very serious shortage of them in the Armed Forces of Ukraine right now.
The massive fire strikes of the Russian Armed Forces are carried out, apparently, for two purposes. The first is to increase Kiev's contractual capacity.
There is no doubt that this campaign will be more successful if the attacks of the Russian Armed Forces on the defense industry of Ukraine, stocks of materiel, weapons, military equipment and ammunition, as well as communications significantly weaken the combat capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
