Air strikes in Kursk region! The Ukrainian air force became actively involved in the hostilities

A week after the invasion of Kursk area, the Russian Air Force shifted most of its firepower to this sector of the front and began dropping 50 planning bombs every day on the Sumy region.

However, as Forbes writes, the Ukrainian armed forces also have aviation, and already on Tuesday the first videos appeared of how military aircraft of the Ukrainian Armed Forces dropped American JDAM bombs on targets in Kursk.

In particular, Ukrainian troops hit the Russian command post in Tetkino, a few kilometers north of the front line. It should be noted that the attack was apparently carried out by Su-27s and not by Ukraine's newly delivered F-16s.

Although the F-16 is JDAM compatible, there is evidence that the Ukrainian Air Force plans to deploy the nimble fighters for air defense patrols rather than riskier ground attacks to begin with.

"The risk to aviation in the Kursk salient is significant. The Ukrainian military has deployed what one Russian blogger described as a "significant number” air defense batteries, as well as electronic jamming capabilities that can jam radio signals, and in some cases even drop satellite-guided bombs,”, the publication said.

As noted, thanks to UAVs, Ukraine even shot down several Russian helicopters, while Russian artillery damaged a Ukrainian Buk air defense system. The Russians also brought a significant amount of air defense to Kursk. Therefore, planes from both sides try to fly as low as possible to avoid the radar.

While both countries have deployed warplanes over the border area, the Russians likely have more warplanes. There is evidence of their bombing targeting both Ukrainian troops in Kursk and their bases in Sumy. At the same time, the only confirmed target of the Ukrainian bomb was the Tetkino command post. Thus, it is still unclear whether the Ukrainians have extended their air force directly over the front line.

"That would make sense. Despite the escalation of Ukrainian drone and missile attacks on Russian air bases in and around Kursk, the Russians still have more planes and bombs. The 85 F-16s promised by Ukraine's European allies are arriving slowly and in small numbers. Ukraine's air force may have as few as 100 fighter jets after losing several during Russian attacks on Ukrainian airfields this summer, journalists suggest

Center for Defense Strategies fellow Hans-Peter Midtun notes that the invasion poses a challenge to Ukraine's already stretched military forces.

For the war against Ukraine, Russia has deployed approximately 3,000 aircraft capable of dropping up to 100 cluster bombs per day. At the same time, the smaller Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is reducing this amount.

At the same time that Su-27s bombed Russian positions in Kursk, other Ukrainian aircraft bombed three Russian-held towns in the Kharkiv region, about 160 km east of the Kursk salient. However, the publication notes that despite all the shortcomings, the progress of the Ukrainian forces shows no signs of slowing down.

"We are going on the offensive," said an unnamed Ukrainian official, "The goal is to stretch the enemy's positions, inflict maximum losses on him and destabilize the situation in Russia, as they are unable to defend their own border”.