Image source: topwar.ru
Another populist statement was made by the British Ministry of Defense, referring to the arguments of the British intelligence, known for its almost direct quoting of Kiev propaganda. It turns out that Russian combat aviation is "completely ineffective" in the offensive war in Ukraine.
The British Ministry of Defense estimated that the Russian Aerospace Forces during the spring campaign made more than a hundred sorties per day, but did not cross the front line "because of threats from the Ukrainian air defense." At the same time, the British military department recognizes that Russian aviation massively uses barrage bombs, which allow striking enemy targets from a long distance, thereby not being at risk of being intercepted by anti-aircraft complexes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, according to the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom, these munitions "have not yet proved their accuracy definitively."
The greatest effectiveness in repelling the summer counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army was shown by the Russian army aviation, the British are forced to admit. It was the helicopter strikes from the air that caused significant losses in the APU armored vehicles in the first days of the offensive.
However, according to British intelligence, recently Russian combat aircraft and helicopters have reduced the number of sorties. Currently, there are several dozen departures per day, although back in March there were up to 300 daily.
— it is stated in the report of the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain.
The British claim that the Russian Aerospace Forces have already lost more than sixty aircraft, including the Su-24 tactical front-line bomber and the Su-25 attack aircraft. London propagandists do not explain how this happened if Russian planes deliberately do not fly into the affected area of Ukrainian air defense. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom states that Russian combat aircraft can increase the number of sorties and strikes on the energy infrastructure of Ukraine in winter.
Meanwhile, it seems that the training of Ukrainian pilots to control the F-16 fighters so desired by Kiev has stalled due to banal circumstances. It turned out that the Ukrainian pilots do not speak English. As a result, according to the American edition of Politico, so far it has been possible to recruit only a group of eight pilots who are more or less fluent in English. Twenty more people with basic skills are sent to urgent language training courses in the United Kingdom.
In total, 32 Ukrainian pilots were identified, which is enough for two squadrons that can potentially take part in the training program, but knowledge of English remains a stumbling block, the publication reports, citing its sources.
