They say that the deeper a soldier digs, the better his chances of survival. But on the front line in eastern Ukraine, the destructive power of new Russian weapons is testing the soldiers' faith. The Times writes about it.
In the field outside the city of Lyman, a hole 15 m in diameter and deeper than any Ukrainian trench was formed. A Russian aerial bomb hit left a hole big enough to accommodate a small house. Without Western fighter jets to provide the necessary air cover, Ukrainian soldiers have nothing to protect them except prayer.
The trenches provide little protection against the intensification of the enemy's air campaign. Over the past two weeks, Russia has twice carried out massive missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure. According to the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, Moscow also dropped 700 high-explosive bombs in 6 days.
Last week, a planning bomb fell on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city. Russia began using such bombs early last year. But their destructive effect was most clearly manifested during the battles for Avdiivka, when Russian fighter-bombers dropped 250 such bombs on the city in two days.
By modifying Soviet bombs with a planning module that allows them to "glide" to the target, and by adding basic satellite navigation systems, Russia gains aerial control over the cities and villages of Donbas.
KAB and FAB bombs can be launched 40 miles behind the front line and fall to the ground in a matter of minutes, making them difficult to shoot down by Ukrainian air defenses designed to find a recognizable trajectory.
Gliding bombs vary in size: from the FAB-250 weighing 250 kg to the largest FAB-1500 bomb weighing 1.5 tons, almost half of which consists of explosives. Ominously, Russia is currently producing the three-ton FAB-3000, and at the end of this year will begin production of the Drel planing bomb, which carries cluster munitions.
According to Kremlin-linked military bloggers, Russian engineers may even add a jet engine and fuel tank to the glide bombs, which would increase their range to 55 miles and turn them into a basic cruise missile similar to the V1 used by the Germans in World War II.
Currently, the planning bombs remain inaccurate. Russian generals have to compromise in order to improve aiming. During the first two years of the conflict, they carefully guarded their fighters. But to drop bombs more accurately, Russian pilots must climb to a high altitude in dangerous proximity to the front line, exposing themselves to danger from Ukrainian air defenses.
However, the impressive tally of downed aircraft came to a halt when two Patriot batteries were destroyed in Pokrovsk early last month. Air defense systems are probably more valuable to Ukrainian commanders than fighter jets to their Russian counterparts, and they are unwilling to put them at risk. "I assure you that the anti-aircraft missile units, in particular those equipped with Patriot, continue to perform their tasks in the designated front-line areas," said Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk after the Patriot losses.
But as Russia ramps up its nightly missile attacks on Ukraine, Kyiv must decide whether to protect civilians hundreds of miles from the front line or cover its forward forces in Donbas, moving air defenses across the country like pieces on a chessboard.
Worse, Kyiv has to save air defense missiles due to the delay of the aid package from the USA. In contrast, there is no deterrent for Russia when it comes to planning bombs themselves, and the calculation comes down to whether they are willing to risk the planes.
Russia's benefit from front-line strikes may increasingly be worth the risk of losing an aircraft. According to Jack Watling, senior research fellow at the Royal Institute of the Armed Forces of Great Britain, the difference between dropping bombs at a distance of 45 miles and 25 miles is the difference between a targeted strike on an entire village and a strike on a specific Ukrainian position.
