They placed 6 fighters in the open air: Forbes assessed the consequences of the attack on Mirgorod
Date: 2024-07-02 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
On July 1, Russia reported an Iskander strike on the Ukrainian Mirgorod airfield, located about 150 kilometers from the front line. According to Forbes, the Ukrainian Air Force deployed six Su-27 fighters in the open air, and a Russian missile destroyed two of them.
“A Russian drone spotted at least six Ukrainian Su-27 supersonic fighters parked in an open area in broad daylight. A Russian Iskander missile fired at them destroyed two precious Su-27s and damaged the remaining four,” the publication writes.
As Forbes notes, this may have been one of the most expensive days for the Ukrainian Air Force since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.
At the same time, the publication writes, the raid on Mirgorod is only the latest in a series of Russian attacks on vulnerable Ukrainian air bases.
“The first two strikes last fall took the Ukrainian Air Force by surprise and blew up a pair of MiG-29 fighters. The third strike, in November, appeared to hit a flightless Su-25 decoy attack aircraft. But then a fourth drone strike brought down the Su-25. The two Su-27s that the Iskander destroyed in Mirgorod bring the number of Ukrainian military aircraft that the Russians have blown up on the ground over the past nine months to at least five. These are losses that the Ukrainians cannot afford,” Forbes notes.
According to the publication, the Ukrainian Air Force entered the war armed with about 125 Su-27, Su-25, MiG-29 and other aircraft. At the same time, over 28 months of fierce fighting, the Ukrainians lost about 90 aircraft, according to Oryx analysts.
At the same time, the European F-16 and Mirage, whose arrival Ukraine is awaiting, will also be vulnerable to Russian drones and missile attacks while they are parked open in broad daylight, Forbes notes.
