The Ukrainian Armed Forces have converted Soviet combat aircraft to use Western missiles, including ZUNI and Strom Shadow, Commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant-General Mykola Oleshchuk, said during an inspection of military equipment by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Zelensky examined, in particular, the Su-25 attack aircraft, the Su-24M bomber, the Su-27 and MiG-29 fighters with the missiles they use. <…> These aircraft were upgraded to use weapons provided by partners, in particular ZUNI air-to-surface missiles, Storm Shadow missiles, AGM HARM anti-radar missiles,” the press service of the office of the President of Ukraine said .
In addition, Zelensky was shown the operation of a simulator provided by the Czech Republic to train pilots to work on Western-style F-16 aircraft. As stated, the Ukrainian president tested the operation of the complex in practice and “hit one of the virtual targets – the Tu-95.”
The servicemen also presented Zelensky with a pilot’s helmet as a symbol of faith that Ukraine will receive F-16 fighter jets in the near future.
Kiev received ZUNI and HARM missiles from the United States, and Storm Shadow from Britain. The latter have a firing range of 250 km. The Armed Forces of Ukraine repeatedly used them to strike at the so-called LPR, the occupied part of the Zaporozhye region and other locations of the Russian army.
On August 6, Storm Shadow missiles fired at the Chongarsky bridge from the Crimea to the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, appointed by Russia as the head of the Kherson region, said . In June, the Armed Forces of Ukraine already hit this bridge with the same missiles, which put it out of action for ten days.
According to experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrainian attacks on bridges in critical areas for the Russian army are part of a wider effort by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to create conditions for a counteroffensive.
In particular, the bridge across the Chongar Strait is one of the main arteries of the land bridge to the Crimea, and the bridge across the Tonkiy Strait connects Genichesk with the Arbat Spit, where the headquarters of the Dnepr group of troops is located, which Russian President Vladimir Putin visited in April.
Source : The Moscow Times
