GUR: Russia has collected hundreds of planes and helicopters, but a massive airstrike on Kyiv is “unlikely”
Russia has amassed about 450 tactical aircraft and 300 helicopters near Ukraine, half of them attack helicopters. Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, stated this in a commentary to the Kyiv Post.
«They are located mainly on the territory of the Russian Federation at least 200 km from the border, concentrated in different places, but beyond our reach,” he said.
According to the representative of the GUR, the enemy is not deploying aircraft closer so that they do not fall into the zone of a potential 80-kilometer strike of precision-guided jet HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems.
Yusov added that, according to Ukrainian intelligence, aviation can be used by the aggressor primarily in the Donbass, where the Russian Federation continues to advance. He believes that an air attack on Kyiv is «unlikely». At the same time, the GUR data does not indicate that Russia plans to use all of its aircraft simultaneously for a massive air attack, Yusov said.
He is convinced that the Russian attempt to completely capture the Donetsk and Luhansk regions by the end of March will end in failure, it doesn't matter, with or without planes.
- The Financial Times has previously reported that Russia is relocating military planes and helicopters to the border with Ukraine to use them to support the offensive.
- Intelligence Britain said that the Russian Aerospace Forces retained a fairly large number of aircraft, but it is unlikely that the Russian Federation will decide to dramatically expand the air campaign.
- RosSMI, citing a source close to the Russian Ministry of Defense, wrote about the decision of the Russian command to massively use aviation.
