Russia targets Ukraine’s airfields due to "online drone vision": Defense Express on attacks in Poltava region

He told this on Espreso TV.

"Regarding the strikes on airfields in Poltava region, I would like to hear an official comment from representatives of the Air Force Command on these two situations. We are talking about the air base in Myrhorod and the air base in Poltava. Unfortunately, the situation is quite classic, meaning that the enemy can conduct reconnaissance with a drone online. This drone hovers over the airfield and transmits images at a range of 150-200 km, so the enemy knows, for example, that there is an aircraft undergoing maintenance at this airfield in a particular location. For example, if these airfields were used as resupply airbases, when aircraft are based far away, but to perform tasks closer to the front, such resupply airbases are needed, where they can be refueled or equipped with ammunition," the military expert commented.

According to him, in a situation where the enemy has an "online vision" of what is happening at the airport, it allows them to strike, and in the recent case, with Iskander ballistic missiles in cluster form.

"I'm sure that when the Air Force sees an enemy reconnaissance drone, they want to shoot it down, but something else happens. I would like to hear an official comment on this. When we talk about a reconnaissance drone, we are talking about a stealthy target. Since 2022, the Air Force and the Armed Forces in general have been actively destroying both Zala and Orlan drones, so detection problems are hardly critical in this case. And as for the destruction, we can say, for example, that there are cases when these Zala drones are being caught up by FPV drones. I am sure that the Air Force, if they see such an enemy drone, wants to destroy it. That's why I would wait for an official comment," summarized Katkov.

• Earlier, Serhiy Zgurets, director of the Defense Express media and consulting company, noted that Russia, realizing that F-16s will soon be in Ukraine, is trying to create problems with airfields.