A sustained bombardment campaign has forced Russia to disperse its rapidly diminishing aircraft fleet to minimize losses.
The latest operation saw the total destruction of a Soviet-era Tu-22 strategic bomber on a remote airfield in the Novgorod region, some 700km from the Ukrainian border. The aircraft was completely consumed by fire following a drone strike.
The sheer distance to the target area means that a drone launched from Ukraine would be unlikely to fly to such a remote area unhindered. According to reports, the operation might have been carried out either by a Ukrainian special operations team or by partisans from inside Russian territory. Resistance fighters have been active across occupied territory practically since the start of the invasion.
Russian aircraft have been consistently targeted while on the ground throughout the war, and the arrival of F-16 jets onto the battlefield will compromise Russia’s aviation assets even further.
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