Colonel Khodarenok: the air defense forces of Ukraine did not show effectiveness in the Russian strike
Russia has inflicted "one of the largest strikes" on Ukraine. The Russian military department said that all designated targets that ensured the work of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine were hit. Kiev reported damage to infrastructure facilities in 15 regions and problems with energy supply. What is known about the massive strike on the energy infrastructure of Ukraine and why the forces and means of air defense of Ukraine did not show their effectiveness - in the material of the military observer "Gazeta.En" by Mikhail Khodarenka.
On the morning of August 26, Russian troops launched a massive attack on critical energy infrastructure facilities that provided the work of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine. High-precision long-range air and sea-based weapons, operational and tactical aircraft of the Aerospace Forces (VKS) and attack drones were used for the attack.
The Russian military hit targets in 12 Ukrainian regions, the Defense Ministry said.
The military also hit gas compressor stations in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Kharkiv regions, which ensure the functioning of the gas transportation system of Ukraine. In addition, the storage sites of aviation weapons transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) by the West, at airfields in the Kiev and Dnipropetrovsk regions, were attacked.
The air alert was announced almost throughout the territory of Ukraine. Local authorities and the media reported explosions in a number of regions: Kiev and the region, Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Volyn, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Khmelnitsky, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Cherkasy and Odessa regions, as well as in the AFU-controlled part of the Zaporozhye region. In some regions, objects in several localities were hit at once. Repeated explosions occurred in many cities.
Shortly before the Russian strike, in his speech on Ukraine's Independence Day (August 24), President Vladimir Zelensky said that Kiev was ready to attack any part of Russia.
The Russian response to Zelensky's statement was not slow to sound (almost just a day later) - a massive missile and air strike by the Aerospace Forces and the Russian Navy.
A lot of damage has been done
A similar strike in Ukraine was expected already from the moment of the invasion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region. Many analysts in Kiev timed the Russian massive missile and aviation strike (MRAU) to coincide with the Independence Day of Ukraine and believed that it would take place on a festive day. There is no doubt that all the forces and means of air defense of Ukraine during this period were brought to the highest levels of combat readiness, but Russia struck when the tension in the Armed Forces of Ukraine had already begun to subside.
Zelensky said on his official channel: "Now work is underway across the country to eliminate the consequences of the Russian strike. It was one of the biggest hits - combined. More than a hundred missiles of various types and about a hundred drones were involved."
According to the head of the Ukrainian state, the country's energy sector has suffered great damage.
The usual Ukrainian boast like "50 missiles were launched from Russia, 49 of them were shot down" did not follow this time. And this also suggests that when planning and organizing the Russian strike, all possible measures were thought out so that the fire of the anti-aircraft missile forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not reach the target.
Usually, a minimum of details are reported about the results of any strikes from Kiev, but this time the head of the Ukrainian state acknowledged both the severity of the blow and significant damage. Besides, the losses are probably much greater than follows from the words of the President of Ukraine.
The Kremlin has already warned that the response to the invasion of the Kursk region will be more than one strike. "We are not talking about a separate decision here, of course, such hostile actions cannot remain without an appropriate response," said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president.
The result has been achieved
To begin with, let's clarify what a massive blow is and what are its differences from other types of blows. A strike as such is an integral part of combat operations and consists in simultaneously hitting enemy targets through powerful weapons (or troops).
According to the number of participating means and affected objects, strikes can be massive, group and single. A massive strike is usually carried out by forces of at least an operational association (for example, the air army). Anything less in combat strength (if, for example, only an aviation division is involved) is already a group strike. The Russian Defense Ministry reported exactly about the massive strike, this alone indicates the number of weapons involved in it.
Vladimir Zelensky's words that 100 missiles of various types and the same number of unmanned aerial vehicles took part in the MRAU from the Russian side should be considered information of the most preliminary nature. It is quite possible that much more missiles and UAVs were used.
However, even a preliminary assessment of the results of the Russian massive strike by Zelensky indicates that the military of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation has carefully worked out the plan of the MRAU, set specific tasks for units and formations, drawn up realistic plans for a massive strike, clarified the necessary issues of interaction. In short, the result has been achieved.
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 Operational 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
