Frontline report: Ukraine strikes Russian airfields, destroys fighter jets
Ukrainian forces destroyed a Mig-31 supersonic interceptor capable of carrying Kinzhal ballistic missiles at the Savasleyka airfield, potentially impacting Russia's ability to strike Ukrainian cities.
Day 905
On 20 August, there are a lot of new developments in the Kursk direction. Here, Ukrainians have conducted a large-scale drone strike on Russian military airfields, severely impacting Russia’s aerial capabilities.
Moreover, Ukrainians immediately leveraged this success to initiate the first attacks in their westward offensive, pushing their forces closer to a decisive breakthrough.
Firstly, Ukrainian officials stated that Russian forces had increased the number of glide bomb strikes on the Sumy Oblast in Ukraine to approximately 40 to 50 strikes per day. Russians targeted various Ukrainian infrastructures in an attempt to undermine Ukrainian logistics and troop movements. Ukrainians retaliated.
The Ukrainian General Staff reported that they conducted a large-scale drone strike against Russian airfields in Kursk, Voronezh, Borisoglebsk, and Savasleyka. The combined operation of the Ukrainian security service, military intelligence, and armed forces targeted Russian airbases that were actively used to conduct glide bomb strikes.
The Ukrainian general staff reported that the strikes targeted aircraft, repair facilities, fuel storage, and warehouses with ammunition, which likely indicates Russian glide bombs. Satellite footage of the Borisoglebsk airfield shows Ukrainians destroyed and damaged several hangars where aircraft were being repaired and maintained, along with one damaged and one destroyed Russian SU-35 fighter plane stationed out in the open.
While no satellite footage of the other Ukrainian strikes has yet become available, local residents around the Savasleyka airfield reported hearing over ten distinct explosions. Additional geolocated footage indicates that Ukrainians destroyed a Mig-31 supersonic interceptor here, able to carry air-launched Kinzhal ballistic missiles, widely used to bomb Ukrainian cities.
This was not the only recent Ukrainian strike, as a post by a Russian journalist indicates that Ukrainians hit a Russian training base with HIMARS, as he complains that Russian forces still use training bases within Ukrainian striking distance.
Additionally, Russian soldiers continue to be forced to gather in the open yard in the morning to wait to be addressed by their commander, making these Russian military bases an even more attractive target for Ukrainians.
Russian sources published a video allegedly showing that they tracked down and destroyed a Ukrainian HIMARS system. However, Ukrainians have used decoy inflatable mockups of high-value military equipment for years.
A Ukrainian soldier shared a photo of such an inflatable HIMARS mockup, seemingly at the exact location of the Russian strike, meaning Russians likely hit a decoy again.
As you know from a previous report, Ukrainians had identified a weak spot in the Russian lines to the west and were preparing to strike. What makes this area even more challenging to hold for Russians is that it is entirely surrounded by Ukrainian forces from three sides and separated from the rest of Russian territory by a river.
There are only three bridges over this river that Russians can use to resupply their forces here, at Karyzh, Zvannoye, and Glushkovo. Ukrainians understood this and launched a series of strikes on these bridges over the last two days, destroying them in the process.
The Ukrainian Air Force released footage of two of these strikes, showing them finishing off the Glushkovo bridge after HIMARS had previously damaged it and destroying the Zvannoye bridge with a similar bomb. While no footage has yet been released of the destruction of the Karyzh Bridge, Russian sources reported that the bridge was under fire by Ukrainian rockets and artillery. If you want access to the original uncensored footage of all Ukrainian strikes, you can find it on our Telegram channel using the link in the description.
With all the bridges over the Seym River destroyed Russian forces are now completely cut off from friendly reinforcements and logistics.
While satellite footage shows that Russians have set up a pontoon bridge, even Russian military analysts note that this is pointless, as the new pontoon bridge remains well within Ukrainian artillery range and expects it to be destroyed soon.
With the bridges destroyed and Russians effectively cut off from their logistics, Ukrainians launched a reconnaissance-in-force operation on the settlement of Tetkino to test Russian defenses and willingness to fight.
Ukrainians quickly captured the western bank of the Seym River in its entirety, as well as numerous positions in the town itself. On the western bank, Russians quickly retreated back to the settlement and blew up two minor crossing points as soon as Ukrainians launched their attacks.
While this temporarily secured the Russian northern flank against Ukrainian assaults, the Russian southern flank remains completely open. This was also not the main
Ukrainian offensive in this direction, as there were no heavy clashes, and Ukrainians seemingly only took up preliminary positions in the town to test the Russians’ strength. Additionally, the fact that Russians immediately retreated and gave up on their positions on the western bank indicates that Russians are not in a position to put up significant resistance and are likely to either surrender or be quickly destroyed by a more significant Ukrainian attack.
Lastly, at the Russian 2024 Army exhibition, Russian developers presented a new Electronic Warfare system meant for helicopters. This comes shortly after Ukrainians destroyed two Russian attack helicopters with FPV drones during the Kursk offensive.
The new Volnorez-X anti-drone aviation system is supposed to protect Russian helicopters against Ukrainian drones by creating a 100-meter disruption zone around the aircraft.
Ukrainians recently captured an intact Volnorez electronic warfare system for armored vehicles in the Kursk Oblast. Ukrainians state that the manual captured alongside the system did not note any technical specifics about it. However, as it was captured fully intact, it may be dissected and used for research purposes to find possible weaknesses that may be used to circumnavigate the disruption zone’s effect.
Overall, these last few days were characterized by supporting actions in preparation for a larger offensive to the west of the current breakthrough. Ukrainians launched the largest strike on Russian military aviation since the beginning of the war to undermine Russian air operations that could endanger their coming offensive.
Similarly, Ukrainians fully cut off Russian logistics to more than 30 settlements under the river. With the initial intensity of Russian resistance in Tetkino being small, Ukrainians will likely soon launch a second offensive and add over 600 square kilometers of Russian territory to their current gains.
In our daily frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Read also:
- Frontline report: Conflicting Russian command structures fuel friendly fire accidents in Kursk Oblast
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