To carry out air raids against Ukraine, the Russian army uses almost all suitable airfields in Belarus, Russia and the occupied Crimea. From there, Russian aviation bombs military and civilian targets, shells the territory of Ukraine with missiles, carries out landings, and uses helicopters.
Journalists, thanks to satellite images, found out exactly where Russian aviation flies from and where it is based. Moreover, it has been established how many military aircraft the Russian army has gathered around Ukraine.
— In total, there are about 40 airfields with tactical military aviation near the borders of Ukraine. Strategic aircraft of the Russian Federation, which can be based at a distance of more than 5 thousand kilometers from the target, should also be added to the arsenal of the Russian Federation, & # 8212; the investigators reported.
Journalists noted that their efforts were focused on the airfields that the Russian military space forces (VKS RF) use most actively and are located on the territories of both Russia and Belarus, and also occupied Crimea.
So, for example, one of the last victims of the Russian Aerospace Forces was the Drama Theater in Mariupol. Igor Koziy, a military expert at the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, believes that the airstrike could have been carried out from most of the airfields used by Russian aviation.
– A general air attack on Mariupol could be carried out from the occupied Crimea and the Krasnodar and Rostov regions of Russia. But the last time, as far as we know, a super-powerful bomb was used, and this is already a strategic aircraft that could take off even from the Urals,” said Igor Koziy.
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Strategic aviation – the Russian Air Force can deliver air strikes at a distance of up to 5.5 thousand kilometers from the airfield. The closest well-known strategic aviation airfield to Ukraine is the air base in the city of Engels, Saratov Region. Strategic bombers such as the Tu-160 and Tu-95MS are based there, which are visible on satellite images from February 6.
But the strategic aviation of the Russian Federation is currently not used very actively and mainly in those regions of Ukraine where the occupying forces have already overcome the resistance of the Ukrainian air defense, experts say.
Journalists believe that since there are not so many such territories, in most cases, ordinary tactical aircraft of the Russian Federation are used.
– Usually it flies from regions of Russia, Belarus and the occupied Crimean peninsula adjacent to Ukraine, the journalists write.
The occupied Crimea has become for Russia not only a springboard for an offensive from the south by ground forces, but also a convenient base for air raids, experts say. It is here that at least two large military airfields are located, which the Russian Federation actively uses in the war against Ukraine.
– A lot of aircraft take off from Crimea, and they work out in different directions. It is possible that in Mariupol too. There is also information from Crimea about strategic aviation, like Tu planes that launch X-type missiles,” said Alexander Musienko, head of the Center for Military Legal Research.
It was these X-class missiles that were used, for example, for attacks on the Vinnytsia, Lvov and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.
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One of the key ones for Russian aviation airfields in the occupied Crimea is located near the city of Saki. By the beginning of a full-scale offensive, he was ready for immediate hostilities. Previously, there was a base of the Ukrainian Navy, but now the 43rd Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Russian Aerospace Forces is based, which consists mainly of Su-30SM, Su-33 aircraft and Su-24M bombers.
There is another large military airfield on the peninsula – Belbek. It is located north of Simferopol. It also has a large number of military aircraft based on satellite images from at least 2005.
At the same time, an operational unit of Russia, the 4th Red Banner Army of the Russian Air Force, is deployed in the Rostov region, aimed at an attack in the direction of south-east Ukraine. It includes fighters, helicopters, air defense forces, as well as more than 40 bombers, most of which are stationed at the “Morozovsk” airfield. This is due to the fact that the 559th Bomber Aviation Regiment is based here.
The nearest air bases to Mariupol are also Russian military airfields Primorsko-Akhtarsk and Yeysk.
From Primorsko-Akhtarsk to the besieged Mariupol, about 125-130 km. Usually only Su-25 fighters are based here, and there are no bombers, but already in March Su-34 bombers were noted here.
< p>The second Russian airfield in the Krasnodar Territory is located in Yeysk, across the gulf of Mariupol. The distance from it to the Ukrainian city is only about 60 km. Here, according to the Military Aviation portal, more than 20 MiG-29K aircraft are based, but such a number of Russian fighters are not visible on satellite images. Mostly Tu-142 anti-submarine aircraft and about five fighters, including Su-33, are stationed here.
Military airfields of Belarus
At the military Lida airfield(Belarus), as a rule, are the forces of the 116th Guards Assault Base of the Belarusian Air Force. Approximately this situation is visible in the picture for September 2020 from Maxar for GoogleMaps: more than 20 military aircraft, some of which can be hidden in special underground hangars. Usually, Su-25 and MiG-29 aircraft, as well as Yak-130, are predominantly stationed here.
The last detailed image of the Planet satellite system for February 14, 2022 also does not show major changes in the number of aircraft, but you can already see more than 20 helicopters near the runway that were not there before. This may indicate the beginning of an active rollover of the military of the Russian Federation during the so-called “exercises”.
In the latest pictures for March 17, the changes are already noticeable. The number of aircraft on the runway has almost doubled. Among them we see aircraft, which, due to the bright blue color, are quite easy to recognize even in low-quality photographs. These are Russian Su-34 bombers.
Only on March 17, Su-34s took off at least nine times from the Lida airfield in the direction of Ukraine and Su-25s twice more, this was confirmed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Earlier, this was reported by Belarusian activists who track the movement of military equipment for the Belarusian telegram channel Gayun.
Each time, not all aircraft were used, but from 2 to 7 in the group. This is due to the cautious tactics that the Russian military chose after they received a fitting rebuff from the Ukrainian air defense.
– This is a tactic. Russian columns of ground forces also try not to travel in packs, but get angry after they are beaten. A group target is easier to hit. They fly in pairs or in formations of 4-5. And then they fly apart. This is a tactic, they are changing it,” explained Igor Koziy.
For example, he said that a cluster missile can destroy all 4 aircraft if they are close, and when they fly one at a time, only one side will suffer.
Baranovichi military airfield (Belarus)
Before the full-scale invasion of Baranovichi airfieldthere were about 50 military aircraft of the Belarusian Air Force. But since September 2021, Russian Su-30SM and Su-34 aircraft also began to arrive there. Then this was explained by the Zapad-2021 exercises, the military of Belarus and the Russian Federation carried out every 4 years. Later, this airfield was used for attacks and bombardment of the territory of Ukraine.
Luninets airfield (Belarus)
Maxar images for GoogleMaps show that in 2018 the airfield stood empty and the same picture was at the beginning of 2022 before the start of a full-scale invasion. This is due to the fact that this airfield has the status of a reserve.
Everything changed after Luninets airfield, like Baranovichi, decided to use as an additional during “exercises” military. Now there are at least 20 Su-25SM aircraft here, and there is also at least one Su-34 bomber.
Sescha Military Transport Airfield (Russia)
< p>According to satellite images, before the start of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, this unusually shaped round airfield in the Bryansk region served mainly for transport aircraft IL-76 and AN-124-100 (“Ruslan& #8221;). Approximately a month before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, bombers and fighters began to appear on it.
According to the latest Planet satellite images, as of March 17, Su-34 bombers are stationed at the Seschi airfield. They can also be used against targets in northern Ukraine.
This confirms that at least one such Su-34 bomber has already been shot down in the Chernihiv region, and one of the pilots was captured, the journalists write.
What airfields does Russia use?
In total, journalists counted about 40 airfields on the territory of Russia, Belarus and the occupied Crimea, which the Russian military use for their own purposes.
In Russia, these are airfields along with the settlements of Krymsk, Krasnodar, Korenevsk, Mineralnye Vody, Kushchevsk , Rostov-on-Don, Millerovo, Marinovka, Volgograd, Saratov, Butyrlinovka, Stary Oskol, Belgorod, Lipetsk, Shatalovo and Kaluga.
In the temporarily occupied Crimea, in addition to the aforementioned Sak and Belbek, these are airfields near populated points Kacha, Guards and Dzhankoy.
In Belarus, such airfields are located near the cities of Minsk, Mozyr, Gomel, Brest, Vitebsk and Bobruisk.
And this, according to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, is not the whole list, because the Russian Federation sometimes even uses abandoned airfields or fields, for example, to land helicopters. Civil airfields are also used, which was recorded by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation during the take-off of drones from Gomel airport.
As of March 18, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already destroyed 93 Russian aircraft. Experts explain that even taking into account the total number of aircraft in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (according to the Defense Express publication, there are 1,585 of them), these are still significant losses. Considering that on the eve of the invasion of Ukraine there were about 300 Russian military aircraft on its borders, almost a third has already been destroyed. To restore the power of its aviation, Russia needs to overturn not only pilots and aircraft, but also ammunition.
Significant losses are forcing Russia to change its tactics in the sky more carefully. In addition, according to experts, some Russian pilots are already refusing to “die from Ukrainian air defense”.
— In normal times, if pilots are not needed, they are fired; if they are needed, they are called up and trained. But there is but. If you need to mobilize new ones, but no one wants to do what? Even active Russian pilots now refuse to fly, because the air defense system is working and we should be happy about it. They see that other pilots do not return and do not want to fly,” Igor Koziy explained.
Russia is starting to experience a shortage of pilots.
– Now, according to preliminary Russian pilots are estimated to have between 50 and 80 flight hours per year. Although according to NATO standards it should be about 300 hours. But these are the most experienced of those they have, and now they are actually losing the most experienced military pilots, and then they will start using others who don’t even have such experience,” explains Alexander Musienko.
< p> In the near future, Ukraine will receive additional air defense systems from the US and the EU, which will again aggravate the situation for the Russian Federation in the sky. According to experts, the weapons that have already been provided and will be provided to Kiev in the near future, Western partners, unfortunately, are not analogous to “closed skies”, so Ukraine badly needs additional modern fighters.
