As of: February 21, 2024, 5:12 p.m
By: Michael Kister
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Press
Split
Russia is said to have lost seven fighter jets in less than a week.
Some military bloggers doubt that Ukraine shot them down.
Moscow - Since February 17, Russia is said to have lost five Su-34 fighter jets worth at least 33 million euros and two Su-35 fighter jets costing at least 40 million euros.
At least that's what the Ukrainian armed forces said.
Vladimir Putin's troops did not confirm this news.
However, several of Russia's prominent military bloggers took the reports at face value and promptly began speculating about the causes of Russian losses.
As the
Kyiv Post
first reported, their opinions differ.
They are all fundamentally loyal to the regime and support Russia's war in Ukraine.
The blogger VDV Za Chenost I Spravedlivost nevertheless blamed the Russian commanders.
They ignored warnings about effective Ukrainian anti-aircraft weapons such as the Patriot system and ordered their jets to fly too close to Ukrainian lines.
Several two-seat Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers are said to have been among the recently shot down Russian aircraft.
© Lystseva Marina/dpa
Russia reportedly lost seven fighter jets in the Ukraine war
Vladimir Romanov, another Russian military blogger, blamed poorly trained ground personnel.
If it even noticed that its own planes were coming dangerously close to Ukrainian positions, it could not warn them because the communications equipment was too old, he wrote on Telegram.
Two other bloggers, Roman Alekhin and Voenniy Osvedomitel, who has more than half a million followers, instead saw 'friendly fire' at work: The lack of communication between the Russian air force and air defense repeatedly leads to such incidents.
However, this also means that they do not allow Ukraine to have weapons that are capable of shooting down fighter jets.
Thanks to Patriot systems from the USA and Germany and a SAMP/T battery from France and Italy, this does not correspond to reality.
Can Ukraine continue to take action against Russian fighter jets?
The Russian side in particular has often blamed friendly fire for its own losses, including on the ground.
How big the problem actually is remains to be seen.
Western experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) interpreted the accumulation of such reports as an indication of major deficits in the internal communication and coordination of the Russian troops.
In order to continue to achieve such successes against the Russian Air Force, Ukraine needs two things, according to Professor Justin Bronk from the English Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
On the one hand, it is important that the supply of air defense systems and ammunition does not stop.
On the other hand, the attacked country urgently needs the American-made F-16 fighter jets promised by Western partners.
(Michael Kister)