Berdyansk and Luhansk airfields just got clustered.
“ Berdyansk and Luhansk airfields just got clustered.”
“One of the most serious blows of all time in the Northern Military District. If not the most serious”
Out of the deep targets most suitable for ATACMS loaded with cluster bomblets (airfields, ammo storage, Air Defense, EW), aircraft are probably the targets that the Russians could move away most quickly, once ATACMS attacks have begun. So it makes some sense to catch them in the first wave.
Also, as we have been discussing, the Artillery battle has been shifting toward Ukraine’s favor, and Russia has been having to rely on Air support more to achieve tactical effects. The sudden gap in Air capability will be felt quickly in the near battle on the ground, where both sides are struggling to lock in some gains before mobility is reduced by mud (rains have already started in Zaporizhzhia).
In addition to Air assets destroyed or damaged directly, more will be temporarily disrupted as they hurry to pull back out of range, and everyone has to move into new hooches. A little window of tactical opportunity.
Medusa: “In a morning report, Ukraine’s General Staff mentioned four strikes on concentrations of Russian personnel, weapons, and military equipment, saying that two helicopters and an ammunition depot were hit, among other things.”
Radio Free Europe: “ Ukrainian forces say they have destroyed Russian military equipment in missile strikes against military airfields in the occupied parts of two regions and reportedly launched a new drone attack on Crimea”
Independent (UK): “ Ukraine has claimed to have destroyed “helicopters, ammunition and equipment” in a series of strikes on Russian military airfields in occupied territories.
Their claims have not been confirmed but satellite imagery from the end of September showed more than 20 Russian helicopters positioned in Berdyansk, which was one of the airfields attacked overnight.
Footage of the aftermath in Berdyansk appears to show a fire raging through the airfield.”