Massive rocket fire in Ukraine: whether Russia is changing tactics and what to expect next

Early in the morning of June 25, several regions of Ukraine were subjected to massive enemy missile strikes. Russian bombers fired from Belarusian airspace.

The Air Force of the Armed Forces reported that in total more than fifty missiles of various types were fired: air, sea and ground-based.

According to our military, for the first time from the territory of Belarus, the enemy used long-range Tu-22M3 bombers against Ukraine, and also resumed the use of Iskander operational and tactical systems.

Sea-based cruise missiles were aimed mainly at targets in western Ukraine.

The Air Force said that in the northern direction of the Tu-22M3 aircraft, the enemy used X-22 missiles, as well as ground-based missiles from operational and tactical complexes Iskander and Point-U.

In the southern direction, the occupiers used Onyx missiles operational and tactical complex Bastion.

Which areas have been hit by enemy blows

On the territory of the Zhytomyr region, Russian aircraft fired about 30 missiles. The shelling caused minor damage to military infrastructure.

Unfortunately, one soldier was killed and another was wounded. About 10 missiles aimed at the region’s infrastructure were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.

The village of Desna in the Chernihiv region was also hit by a massive missile strike. The Operational Command North reported that about 5.00 missiles were fired from the territory of Belarus from planes and from the ground in the village.

It is known about the destruction of infrastructure. According to preliminary information, it passed without losses.

At 4.00 a military object in the Yavoriv region of the Lviv region was hit by a missile.

According to preliminary information, the West Air Command managed to shoot down two missiles. Four, unfortunately, flew. This was announced by the head of the Lviv RMA Maksym Kozytsky.

 – Today, at about 4:00 am, the Russian occupiers fired six missiles from the Black Sea towards the Lviv region. On the territory of the Yavoriv test site as a result of a missile strike, four victims: one – medium severity, three – light, – he said.

The head of the Khmelnytsky Regional State Administration, Serhiy Gamaliy, said that during the air alert, our air defenses shot down two missiles.

The wreckage of one fell in the forest in Kamianets-Podilskyi district, and the other – in the village garden of one of the territorial communities of Khmelnytskyi district. No one was killed or injured.

Also in the morning on June 25 Mykolaiv and area came under enemy attacks. In addition, the explosions were reported by residents of Kyiv region.

However, there has been no official confirmation of the information yet. It is possible that air defense worked in the region.

Massive rocket fire is a provocation

The relevant statement was made by the Central Intelligence Agency of Ukraine. The agency said that the Russian bombers worked directly from the territory of Belarus.

For this purpose, six Tu-22M3 aircraft were used, which fired 12 X-22 cruise missiles. The launch line is the area of ​​the town of Petrykov, not far from Mozyr, approximately 50-60 kilometers from the state border of Ukraine.

The bombers took off from the airport Shaykovka Kaluga region of Russia. Then through the territory of Kaluga and Smolensk regions entered the airspace of Belarus.

After launching the missiles, they returned to Shaykovka Airport in Russia. Strikes were inflicted on Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy oblasts.

– This is the first case of an air strike on Ukraine directly from the territory of Belarus. Today’s shelling is directly related to the Kremlin’s efforts to involve Belarus in the war in Ukraine as a direct participant, –  the intelligence service said.

As evidenced by such a massive missile strike

Military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko draws attention to several aspects of the massive rocket attack on Ukraine on June 25.

We already know that Belarus provided its territory for the invasion of Ukraine by the ground forces of the Russian occupiers. In addition, Belarusian territory was used by the Russians to shell Ukrainian cities with ground means of destruction, such as the Iskander and Tochka-U missile defense systems.

Russian troops have also used Belarusian airfields for their planes to strike. But now, according to the expert, the situation is somewhat different.

After all, Russian aircraft did not take off from Belarusian airfields, but from Russian ones. However, it used the airspace of Belarus as safe, flew to the border, launched missiles and returned to the airspace of Russia.

The same tactics are used by Russians near the border with Kharkiv and Sumy regions.

– In the case of morning strikes, the question arises why Russian aircraft did not use airfields in Belarus. After all, taking off from the Russian Federation, more fuel is spent, work out the bigger resource of the plane.

There is speculation that the self-proclaimed President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, is less loyal than before to the Russians’ use of Belarusian territory. Therefore it was necessary to take off from airfields of the Russian Federation, – the expert explains.

However, Oleksandr Kovalenko says that there is another explanation why such tactics were used. First of all, it should be understood that the Russian Federation has been shelling Kyiv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, and Lviv regions for a long time with cruise missiles of both air-based and Caliber types.

Now the Russians have used medium-range weapons, including X-59 missiles. This indicates that the occupiers really do not have enough missile weapons capable of hitting objects at a distance of 1,000-1,500 km, which they can launch from the territory of the Russian Federation.

– In addition, there is another very important factor. When an enemy missile is in the airspace of Ukraine, the air defense responds to it. And the longer it flies, the more likely it is that the air defenses will destroy it. That is, the long duration of its stay in our airspace is not in its favor, as the probability of its elimination increases.

The use of airspace in Belarus allows the most efficient use of X-59 missiles, as the flight distance is reduced and, accordingly, it is more difficult for our air defenses to neutralize such an object, – the expert said.

According to Oleksandr Kovalenko, after such a massive shelling, Russia’s use of X-59 missiles will increase. First of all, the reason for this is the shortage of long-range aviation missile weapons in Russia.

The military expert also emphasizes that the Ukrainian air defense is now showing high efficiency, as it is working to the maximum of its capabilities and even more.