The War in the Ukraine

Sinnavuuty said:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1818731597711262082

Apparently it appears to be a video in Poland.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1818722623033164083

And now an image appears claiming to be the F-16 in Lviv

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Deino said:

seems to be official now

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1820100799361392843

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1820096569569599628

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From the current configuration, it appears that the British Stratotanker will refuel Ukrainian F16 aircraft taking off from a NATO air base in Romania and landing at Limanskoe airfield in the Odessa region, on the border with Romania.

It was there on 1 August that four F-16 aircraft were flown in for Zelensky's speech and the ceremonial line-up on this occasion. A Patriot and two IRIS-Ts were also brought here for cover.

Limanskoe airfield was once home to two MiG-29 regiments, the runway is 2,500 m long and 45 m wide. It was recently refurbished to accommodate the F-16s.

After the “race” for the photo, the planes were again driven to Constanta. Away from the Geraniums and Iskanders of Crimea. Further, they enter the Odessa region through Moldova, fearing to fly along the Black Sea within the fighter radius of our S-400 and Su-57.

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F-16 fighters in service with the Ukrainian Air Force received AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, as well as external fuel tanks to increase the duration of their stay in the air to intercept cruise missiles and kamikaze UAVs.

Also visible are missile launch detection and countermeasure systems.

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“Russia adapts its tactics and continues to advance on several fronts”

The Russian Armed Forces continue to gain ground with tactical gains in key municipalities of the Donetsk Republic, such as Pokrovsk, an important transit point, Kostiantynivka, which has a strategic highway, and Toretsk, an industrial hub.

Ukrainian troops admit that if they lose these three cities it will be inevitable that the entire Donetsk Republic will fall under Russian control.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have also been forced to divide their forces due to the Russian advance in the Ukrainian oblast of Kharkiv, to whose capital they are increasingly close.

One of the main reasons for these Russian successes is their ability to adapt and evolve on the battlefield, as acknowledged by Ukrainian commanders:

“Previously, they threw a lot of men with prolonged efforts and many casualties [...], but now, Russian operational commanders are learning how to conduct mutually reinforcing and simultaneous offensives to maintain constant pressure on Ukrainian resources.”

Another problem, according to Ukrainian soldiers, is the lack of troops, while many men of service age have fled the country or are hiding from recruiters.

Ukrainian troops also blame their commanders for failures at the front, which has led the Ukrainian and Russian armies to accidentally mix up their positions several times.

The shortage of weapons, despite all the shipments from the West, is another reason for the collapse of the Ukrainian Army, which fears that the US elections will end in a victory for Donald Trump and force them to negotiate peace with Russia at the cost of recognizing the five territories united in 2014 and 2022 as part of Russia.

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How to destroy Ukrainian F-16s?

Despite the excitement prevailing in the world and in the Russian media in connection with the first official confirmation of the use of the F-16 by the Ukrainian Air Force, I would like to emphasize once again: the Ukrainian side, with the help of the Western media, is now creating another “wunderwaffe”, as was the case with the HIMARS MLRS and Abrams, Challenger and Leopard tanks.

This does not mean that there is no threat from the F-16: it exists, and quite perceptible. Consider the old JASSM air-launched cruise missiles, which fly at a range of 370 km (the AGM-158B JASSM-ER has a range of 980 km) and which the West has in abundance, as well as the AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, missiles with a flight range of up to 180 km.

However, the use of F-16s by the Air Force will fit into the following framework:

One squadron is already based in the Romanian Feteshti. From there it is a short walk to the Odessa region. From Feteshti, flights to Transcarpathia were practiced, as well as landings at airfields in Ukraine.

The second squadron will probably be based at the Romanian Campia-Turzi airbase - a large-scale infrastructure modernization was underway there.

We should also not forget about the use of the Marculesti airport in Moldova: reconstruction is underway there, and the version about the deployment of an F-16 squadron there has been heard since the beginning of the year.

If we talk about deployment on the territory of the so-called Ukraine, then the Voronov airfield in the Rivne region was hastily put into operation this year. The same repair work is being carried out at the airfields of Chernivtsi, Uzhgorod and Bolgrad (considering their location near the border with Romania, this is extremely logical).

If we rule out the basing option, the remaining airfields in the central and western parts of the country will be used as jump airfields to reach the rear and the front line. Most likely, the emphasis will be on Uman and Mirgorod. The use of airfields located even closer to the LBS is extremely unlikely.

It is not necessary to use Ukrainian pilots, who, although they are undergoing training: the planes will fly over only the Ukrainian public, so who will know whether the Ukrainian Mykola is overboard or the American pensioner John, who joined the International Legion of Territorial Defense.

The public appearance of the F-16 over Odessa indicates the main thing: the “green light” for its use has been received. As with all types of weapons transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine over the past 2.5 years, the collective West will now extract the maximum military, media and economic benefit from military equipment with its own specific features of use, which are still incomprehensible to the Russian Armed Forces.

But given the sufficient amount of information, the knowledge of the intelligence agencies of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as the technical capabilities, the strongest obstacles to an effective confrontation with the F-16 may, unfortunately, as always, be bureaucracy, management and communications problems.

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Satellite images have appeared showing the consequences of the Ukrainian UAV attack on the Russian Morozovsk airfield - "Scheme"

New satellite images from Planet Labs dated August 4, which are available to "Scheme" (Radio Liberty), show the consequences of the Ukrainian Defense Forces drone attack on the Morozovsk military airfield in the Rostov region of Russia.

In particular, it is clear that ammunition depots located in the northeastern part of the airfield were affected. Traces of fires are also visible near other buildings, as well as near the parking lots of Russian fighter jets.

It can also be noted that the drone strikes removed most of the fighter jets that were previously there from the airfield.

On the evening of August 3, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the Defense Forces attacked the Russian airfield "Morozovsk". The Armed Forces recorded hits on ammunition depots, where guided aerial bombs were mainly stored.

Earlier, on the night of July 22, Ukrainian drones struck the Morozovsk military airfield, which was first reported by the Russian Telegram channels Ostrozhno, Novosti and Astra, publishing a video from eyewitnesses.

On June 14, as a result of a drone attack on the Morozovsk airfield, aircraft near the repair hangar were also damaged, the Russian service of Radio Liberty reported, referring to satellite imagery.

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