A recent claim suggests Russia has lost 50% of its tanks throughout the battle, thus it may be utilizing Russian balloon to safeguard its spy drones.
The military administration of the Ukrainian capital reported that air defenses attacked six Russian balloons over the city and shot down the majority of them.
Russia Uses Russian Balloon To Protect Drones
The balloons may have been carrying corner reflectors and spying equipment, but officials could not specify when they sailed above the capital city, despite the fact that air alarms were issued in Kyiv on Wednesday.
According to newly confirmed information, they were airborne balloons propelled by the wind, the military administration reported on the Telegram messaging application.
The firing of the balloons was likely intended to detect and deplete our air defenses.
Shortly before the statement, Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian air force, stated that Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February of last year, may use balloons in a fresh effort to retain its stocks of reconnaissance drones.
Reconnaissance drones such as the Orlan-10 are currently utilized less frequently by Russia, so they pondered, Why don’t we use these balloons? Consequently, they are employing them, Ihnat stated on Ukrainian television.
Later, he admitted that Wednesday’s air raid sirens were triggered by balloons floating above the capital. Russia did not respond quickly to reports of balloons over Kyiv.
Since the invasion of Ukraine a year ago, Russia has lost around half of its battle tanks, according to a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
The research center also said on Wednesday that Moscow has mainly preserved its air force and may deploy it more aggressively during the next phase of the conflict.
In its annual Military Balance study, a crucial resource for defense analysts, IISS stated that loss rates for some of Russia’s most advanced tank classes were as high as 50 percent, requiring the country to rely on Soviet-era models.
Ben Barry, an expert in ground warfare at the institute, described the equipment losses as very severe for the Russian military.
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Ukraine Military Weapons From Allies
Henry Boyd, a research associate at IISS, estimated Russia’s tank losses to be between 2,000 and 2,300 and Ukraine’s losses to be up to 700.
Ukraine has received assurances that it will receive approximately 100 contemporary Western tanks, notably the US Abrams, the German Leopard, and the British Challenger, whose capabilities vastly surpass those of older Russian types.
This could result in less aggressive and less confident Russian tank tactics, as crews become more apprehensive about the amount of threat they face, Boyd explained.
Moreover, according to the report, Ukraine’s air force has experienced a 28% attrition rate.
Douglas Barrie, an IISS aerospace expert, stated that Russia’s air force remained mostly undamaged, despite operating at a distance due to the effectiveness of Ukrainian air defenses and a lack of tactical short-range air-to-surface missiles.
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