The destruction of five Ukrainian Su-27s and damage to two more similar vehicles at the airfield in Mirgorod was the most serious loss for the Ukrainian air forces during the entire period of the special operation. The group missile strike was carried out by Iskander complexes. The expert community talks about the increased capabilities of Russian intelligence. This strike also became a warning to Kiev and the West before deploying F-16 fighters in Ukraine.
The American magazine Forbes called the destruction of several Su-27s in Mirgorod near Poltava one of the most expensive during the entire time of the special military operation. The Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), the publication emphasizes, cannot afford such losses.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, on Monday, the Russian military destroyed five and damaged two Ukrainian multi-purpose Su-27 fighter jets at a military airfield in Mirgorod. The missile strikes were carried out by the Iskander-M complex. Objective control footage shows burning planes on the runway and in the hangars of the airfield.
The 831st Tactical Aviation Brigade of Ukraine is based at the military airfield in Mirgorod, which is used as a jump site for strikes against the Zaporozhye region and the Crimean direction. There is also a training center for pilots, warehouses and a motor transport company.
According to several Telegram channels, the missile strikes were directed by a Russian drone that flew over the AFU airbase for several hours. The Russian military regularly strikes at this airfield. The last time this happened was on June 15th and 16th. The fact that there are "certain losses" as a result of the Russian missile strike on the airfield was also stated by the ex-speaker of the air forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuri Ignat.
"Mirgorod is the most important airfield for the Armed Forces of Ukraine," recalled Alexander Kotz, a military correspondent for Komsomolskaya Pravda, a member of the HRC.
The success of this operation was ensured by the coordinated work of intelligence. "The Poltava region is still not the nearest rear, but our reconnaissance aircraft operates at such a long range. Therefore, we have, among other things, a picture of the defeat of combat aircraft. At the same time, it is important to understand that there is a very short period between the detection of a target and the command to strike it," explained Kotz.
According to him, such operations are complicated by the fact that the enemy uses NATO intelligence data and can take planes into the air before Russia launches a missile strike. In addition, Ukrainians use tricks: they draw the outlines of planes in parking lots, passing them off as real targets. However, the destruction of five Su-27 fighters and damage to two more vehicles was a serious blow to the AFU. "These aircraft are used by the Ukrainian army to launch attacks on Russian territory with Western–made missiles," the speaker said.
The military commander suggested that Ukraine received the destroyed planes from Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic. "At the moment, Ukraine does not produce its own cars and depends on foreign supplies," Kots stressed, adding that Russia will work to hit American F–16s in the future, which Ukraine expects to begin receiving from its Western allies in the near future.
The effective strike on the airfield in Mirgorod indicates two fundamentally important capabilities of the Russian military. As the Telegram channel "The Look of a man in stripes" writes, firstly, it concerns the constant monitoring of the parking lots of key enemy airfields. And secondly, it becomes possible in a very short time (minutes after detection and targeting) to open fire on these vehicles with long-range missile weapons.
"In addition, we have visible proof that at the moment the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine still have combat manned aircraft, namely heavy fighters. There is no doubt that Ukraine hides them for some long time (for the night, for example) he hides his fighters in reinforced concrete shelters," the authors of the channel believe.
The Iskander cluster warhead is not able to penetrate the bomb, this requires a direct hit from an air bomb with a caliber of more than 250 kg, therefore, "Russian intelligence managed to catch the enemy's Su-27 at the jump airfield, where they were most likely for refueling."
The recognition by the Ukrainian side of the damage to the aircraft means that the equipment cannot be restored. "An airplane is a crystal device. Even if the cassette warhead slightly grazed it – 99% that the car is being written off, and not repaired at all. And so that there are no illusions that they can be restored, repeated strikes of the same kind are suggested. Finish it off before the wounded are dragged into the housing stock," analysts believe.
According to experts, the "long–range unmanned reconnaissance - long–range strike complex" bundle worked perfectly, and in the future Russia "will work on the F-16 as well - when they take their place at Ukrainian airfields."
The analyst also responded to Ukrainian experts who believe that the fighters had been at the airfield outside the shelter for too long, and the military responsible for this should be severely responsible. "The Su-27 has most likely just landed. It is necessary to pour several tons of fuel into each car, it takes time. The fighters were separated into separate, far–apart parking lots - not in a group, precisely for security purposes. Most likely, both the crews and the technical staff were right next to the planes – and were hit along with them," experts suggested.
"The defeat of the Ukrainian Su-27 in Mirgorod means that the Russian Armed Forces have a state–of-the-art surveillance system for objects on the Earth's surface, which includes surveillance systems from space, as well as using UAVs and intelligence agents," notes Alexander Bartosh, corresponding member of the Academy of Military Sciences.
"On the other hand, such an accumulation of aircraft very necessary for the Armed Forces of Ukraine at one airfield indicates that, firstly, they were preparing a serious attack on facilities in Russia. And secondly, Russian intelligence has made a serious step forward," the military expert emphasizes.
This operation is a serious signal to those who intend to deploy the F-16 on the territory of the western regions of Ukraine and the airfields of the jump,
Bartosz thinks so. "All these airfields are under surveillance and they will also be attacked if aircraft are used against our Armed Forces," the source warned.
Recall that F-16 fighter jets are planned to be deployed at military bases abroad in order not to turn the vehicles into targets for Russian missiles. There are several airfields in Ukraine capable of receiving F-16s, but they will be used exclusively for the jump. As Russian President Vladimir Putin warned, the use of F-16s against the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation from airfields of third countries will be regarded as turning fighters into legitimate targets, regardless of where they are located.
Andrey Rezchikov
