The Armed Forces of Ukraine have managed to shoot down 10 Russian planes in the last 10 days

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have managed to shoot down 10 Russian planes in the last 10 days. Just yesterday, the defenders destroyed two Su-34 fighter-bombers. In the previous days, Ukrainian forces shot down Su-35, Su-34, and a rare Beriev A-50 radar aircraft.

The loss of so many aircraft in such a short period of time is a major problem for the Russian Federation. Recently, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said on the air of the telethon that after the loss of fighters, the Russian command had not yet sent the A-50 long-range radar aircraft into the airspace and had also begun to use fewer tactical aircraft.

The publication "Forbes" notes that due to Western sanctions, the Russian Federation is able to produce no more than 20 combat aircraft per year. However, in the face of recent successes of the Ukrainian Air Force, there have been cases when the Russians lost planes 20 times faster than they were able to replace them.

How are the Armed Forces shooting down Russian planes?

American journalists write that it is not entirely clear how the Ukrainian military manages to shoot down Russian fighters so often. However, there are some assumptions.

It is likely that the Ukrainian Air Force has allocated part of the American Patriot missile systems to mobile air defense groups. They move quickly near the front line, attacking Russian planes.

However, the publication notes that the A-50 aircraft was shot down from a greater distance than the fighters. It is possible that the Armed Forces used the old S-200 from the Cold War, which had been in storage for a long time, for this. Ukraine officially decommissioned the complex in 2013, but before the start of the full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian authorities were thinking about its modernization. It looks like this is what happened.

Forbes also writes that the Ukrainian army has moved several NASAMS land-based missile batteries closer to the front line.

However, the publication draws attention to the fact that the United States has not supplied Ukraine with ammunition since the end of December last year. This means that if the Ukrainian military is indeed using the best NASAMS or Patriot missiles to shoot down Russian planes, they may soon run out.

The Russians themselves are making it easier to shoot down Russian planes

Journalists also do not ignore the fact that the Russians themselves are involved in the shooting down of Russian planes, due to their passivity and hasty departures.

Ukrainian units are running out of ammunition, so sensing an opportunity, the Russian Air Force is making more flights closer to the front line, dropping glide bombs. In this way, the occupiers are trying to slow down the armed forces in order to be able to move forward.

"Thanks to this increase in Russian strike sorties, Ukrainian air defenses have more targets. As a result, they are of course shooting down more Russian planes", Forbes writes.

The Ukrainian efforts are also aided by the fact that Russian pilots are seeing fewer Ukrainian missile launches. At one point, the Russian Air Force had about nine active A-50 radar aircraft.

After one A-50 was damaged in a drone attack last year and two more A-50s were shot down this year, the Ukrainians removed a third of the sensor range and created dead spots where Russian pilots would have difficulty seeing incoming missiles.