Ukraine's Su-24 fighter jets a nightmare for Putin's troops - media
That's according to the Swiss news outlet Blick, Ukrinform reports.
"Russia has a new target. Putin's military leadership is increasingly targeting bases with Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-24 jets," the story reads.
The reason is that in the past few weeks, Ukraine has been able to repeatedly hit targets in all areas occupied by Russia. This was mainly done with the Western-made Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missiles. "Whether it's accommodation for the Russian generals in Berdiansk, arms factories in Luhansk or bridges leading to the Crimean peninsula - nobody is safe anymore!" the article said.
However, the key to the immense destruction that the Ukrainians have been able to inflict on key Russian logistics hubs and supply routes is not the high-tech missiles themselves, but rather the converted Sukhoi Su-24 machines.
"Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin has now recognized the fighter jets as a possible weak point for the Ukrainians. For weeks, Russian troops have been attacking air force bases in western Ukraine, where they suspect the Su-24 fighters are based. In particular, the air base in Starokostiantyniv is repeatedly attacked," the article reads.
Italian military expert Thomas C. Theiner described Russian tactics as not very successful.
"Russia fires 90 percent of its cruise missiles and ballistic missiles at the base that hosts those planes. And yet Russia fails again and again," he wrote on Twitter.
The recent attacks on bridges in Chonhar and Henichesk show that Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles can hit critical Russian occupation targets in eastern and southern Ukraine day and night.
According to the German news outlet Bild, the fact that the Ukrainian Air Force moves the Sukhoi jets to a different air force base every 24 hours also causes problems for the Russians.
All Soviet-era air bases have been reactivated, and secret new airstrips are used on highways. Several Patriot and Iris-T anti-aircraft systems were deployed to protect the valuable fighter jets and bases, the article said.
Ukraine received Storm Shadow cruise missiles from the United Kingdom and Scalp missiles from France.