Ukraine war: Russia bombs Ukrainian Air Force command center - 'significant damage'

Created: 03/26/2022, 05:28

By: Christian Stör, Alina Schroeder

Bad news for Vladimir Putin in the Ukraine war: Russia's army is said to be retreating in some places.

The news ticker.

• In the Ukraine war*, the army of Russia* seems to be retreating in places in the battle for Kyiv*.

• The troops of Russia's President Vladimir Putin* are apparently not able to secure the supply routes to the front in Ukraine*.

• The morale of the Russian army in the Ukraine conflict* is said to be at a low point.

>>> Update news ticker <<<

Update from Saturday, March 26th, 2022, 5:00 a.m.:

Late on Friday evening, Russia apparently launched airstrikes on the command center of the Ukrainian Air Force in the city of Vinnytsia (western Ukraine).

Several rockets hit, reports the Luftwaffe command.

A "considerable damage" was caused.

Photographs confirm this. Nothing is known about the number of victims.

The salvage work is currently underway.

This information cannot be independently verified.

Meanwhile, reports are emerging that Ukraine may have planted numerous spies in the Russian military.

A pilot in the Russian Air Force.

The photo is from February.

(Iconic photo) © Russian Defense Ministry/Imago Images

+++ 10:48 p.m .:

According to US information, the Ukrainian army has launched an offensive to recapture the city of Cherson.

"The Ukrainians are trying to win back Kherson and we would say that Kherson is currently contested territory again," a US Defense Department official told reporters in Washington.

"We cannot confirm exactly who is in control of Kherson, but the city does not appear to be under Russian control as clearly as before," it said.

The port city, located near the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia, was the first major city in Ukraine to be captured by the Russian army.

Ukraine News: Russia apparently loses port city of Kherson

+++ 9:06 p.m .:

Russia has probably lost complete control over the Ukrainian port city of Cherson.

The New York Times reports and cites a representative of the US Pentagon.

Kherson was the first major city to be captured by Russian President Putin's troops.

However, Ukrainian officials and residents have expressed doubts about the Pentagon report.

Accordingly, the city is still in Russian hands while the Ukrainian army is fighting in the region.

+++ 18:23:

According to the Ukrainian army, a Russian lieutenant general was killed in fighting in the Cherson region in southern Ukraine.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has not yet commented on this.

This is reported by the US broadcaster CNN.

So far, six Russian generals and a deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet are believed to have been killed since the Russian attack on Ukraine began.

This information cannot be independently verified.

+++ 3.45 p.m .:

As expected, the details of the Russian losses in the Ukraine war are very different.

While the Ukrainian military leadership speaks of 16,100 Russian soldiers killed (see update from 12.45 p.m.), the updated numbers from Russia look a little different.

According to the Russian General Staff, 1,351 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine.

According to the military agency Interfax in Moscow, 3,825 soldiers were injured in the “special operation”.

It was the first official figure since early March, when the number of 498 soldiers killed was given.

None of this information can be independently verified.

Experts assume thousands of dead Russian soldiers.

+++ 2:25 p.m .:

The Russian army is struggling with increasing difficulties in the fifth week of the Ukraine war.

The number of losses seems blatantly high (see update from 12.30 p.m.).

In addition, according to US information, Russia appears to be complaining about massive problems with its precision-guided missiles.

The high-tech weapons fail in up to 60 percent of cases, as US government officials said, citing intelligence information from the Reuters news agency.

Ukraine News: Russia suffers heavy losses

+++ 12.30 p.m .:

The Ukrainian military leadership has updated its numbers on Russian losses.

According to this, 16,100 Russian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the Ukraine war.

According to Ukrainian data, Russia has suffered the following losses in military equipment so far: 561 tanks, 1,625 armored vehicles, 1,089 cars, 291 artillery pieces, 90 multiple rocket launchers, 49 surface-to-air missiles, at least 115 jets, 125 helicopters, 5 boats, 72 fuel tanks and 53 drones .

The British secret service also speaks of massive losses.

"Russian forces almost certainly suffered thousands of casualties during their invasion of Ukraine," a situation report said.

In order to compensate for the "considerable losses", Russia is now increasingly trying to use reservists, conscripts and mercenaries from private and foreign military companies.

Ukraine News: Why Russia lost so many tanks in the Ukraine war

+++ 11.15 a.m .:

The losses of the Russian army in the Ukraine war are surprisingly high.

According to the Business Insider news portal, about ten percent of Russian military equipment has been destroyed so far.

Undoubtedly, the first thing to be mentioned here are the supply and supply problems with which the Russian army has been struggling since the beginning of the campaign (see first report).

The tanks in particular seem to be poorly maintained for the most part.

With no infantry or air support, they are more or less vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks.

In addition to the modern anti-tank missiles, drones in particular also play a decisive role here.

Turkish drones such as the Bayraktar TB2 can either attack tanks directly or be used as a scout for the artillery.

"We are indeed seeing the Ukrainian military using drones [...] to significant effect against Russian armored vehicles," US military expert Paul Scharre told Business Insider.

"Drones can be very effective in contested airspace, partly because they can fly lower and partly because you don't risk a pilot."

Ukraine News: Russian warships probably destroyed

Update from Friday, March 25th, 2022, 9:00 a.m.:

The losses on the Russian side are increasing in the Ukraine war.

The Ukrainian General Staff announced that the landing ship "Saratov" had been destroyed in an attack on the port of the city of Berdyansk, which had been taken by Russian units.

Two other such ships, "Caesar Kunikov" and "Novocherkassk", were said to have been damaged.

The Ukrainian Navy announced yesterday that it had destroyed the troop carrier "Orsk".

However, the information could not be independently verified.

Fierce fighting also continued on land.

Footage shared from the port earlier in the morning showed a large Russian warship on fire.

Other ships moved away from the inferno.

Further Russian losses would still be “clarified”, it said.

Ukraine News: Russian troops withdraw with heavy casualties

First report from Friday, March 25th, 2022, 6.45 a.m .

: According to the Ukrainian armed forces, Russian troops in north-eastern Ukraine are said to have withdrawn after high losses.

This was announced by the Ukrainian General Staff in its situation report on Friday night (03/25/2022).

Accordingly, one observes the withdrawal of certain Russian units behind the Russian border after the loss of more than half of the personnel.

According to Ukrainian information, Ukrainian forces were also attacked in the Dnepropetrovsk region on Friday night.

Russia has carried out two rocket attacks on a military unit on the outskirts of the city of Dnipro, a local authority in the region said on Facebook.

The unit's buildings were "considerably" damaged and two fires broke out.

There were initially no further details, such as victims.

The information is not independently verifiable.

(as/cs)