Satellite imagery from Planet Labs as of 19 July 2023 shows that the invading Russian forces have begun to use the airport in the temporarily occupied Luhansk, which has not been operational since 2014, as one of the bases for their army aircraft, Defense Express reports.
At that time, a total of 15 Russian army helicopters were stationed at the airport, including five Ka-52s, three Mi-28s and eight Mi-8/Mi-17 helicopters, and usually there are 12 to 16 Russian helicopters, as well as Mi-24s, writes OSINT analyst Tatarigami_UA in his publication.
The analyst emphasises that the Russian military has only recently started using the airport in the temporarily occupied Luhansk as a base for its attack and assault helicopters.
This airport was chosen because it is located 100 kilometres from the front line, which means it is out of range of long-range systems such as M142 HIMARS and M270. At the same time, such a relatively short distance allows the Russian helicopters to reach the front line in up to 30 minutes.
Tatarigami_UA claims that the Russian forces have organised a fairly powerful object-based air defence system around Luhansk airport, which is not "invincible".
Accordingly, if the Russian army helicopter landing sites at this airport are attacked, the Russians will be forced to move their army aircraft even further away from the front line, which will increase the flying time for the occupiers.
In June 2023, the Russian army began using the airport in the temporarily occupied Berdyansk as a base for its helicopters. At the same time, as satellite images showed, the Russian forces continued to use Berdyansk airport as a base for their Ka-52 and other helicopters in July, despite repeated explosions at the Russian military facilities.
This also raised the question of what type of missile would help destroy this airfield with Ka-52s that hindered the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces, ATACMS or GLSD.