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As diplomatic efforts in Istanbul struggle to gain immediate traction, the skies over Ukraine and southern Russia have become the stage for another intense exchange of drone strikes. The nocturnal duel of unmanned systems and air defenses has further highlighted the widening asymmetry in both capabilities and losses between the two warring sides.
The Ukrainian military launched another wave of long-range drone attacks, mainly targeting Crimea, with Russian air defenses intercepting 65 aircraft-type UAVs overnight. The majority, 43 drones, were neutralized over the Black Sea, while 21 were shot down over Crimea, and a single UAV was destroyed in the Belgorod region. The strikes appeared concentrated on Sevastopol and Simferopol, with a successful hit on an ammunition depot in the village of Perevalnoe, near Simferopol. The aftermath led to road closures along the Simferopol-Alushta highway, though Russian officials have not confirmed any significant damage.
Despite the scale of the attack, the effectiveness of Ukraine’s drone campaigns remains questionable. Russian electronic warfare and layered air defenses have rendered most such sorties ineffective, with only sporadic reports of successful strikes. Meanwhile, the cost to Ukraine, both in terms of lost drones and diverted resources, continues to mount.
Russian Retaliation: A Swarm Over Ukraine
In their turn, Russian forces unleashed 112 drones, primarily kamikaze Geran UAVs, alongside decoy UAVs designed to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses. The drones targeted multiple regions, including Kyiv, Odesa, and military installations in Kirovohrad and Cherkasy. According to the official report, Ukrainian air defenses managed to intercept 73 of the incoming drones, while another 36 decoys were allegedly lost without reaching their targets.
The attack came at a steep price for Kyiv. During the engagement, another Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet was lost, reportedly after colliding with a drone or its debris. The pilot ejected safely, but the incident underscores the growing strain on Ukraine’s dwindling fleet of Western-supplied aircraft. LINK
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Russian forces conducted precision strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure, targeting weapons depots, repair facilities, and troop concentrations. Explosions were reported near Makariv, west of Kyiv, where a NATO-supplied arms cache was reportedly destroyed, as well as in Uman and Sumy regions, where Russian glide bombs struck military bases. The military airfield in Kirovograd region reportedly came under another attack.
The intensifying strikes come amid the first round of negotiations in Istanbul, where both sides have yet to find common ground. The relentless pace of attacks suggests that neither Moscow nor Kyiv is willing to de-escalate before securing a stronger battlefield position. For Ukraine, the drone campaign represents a desperate attempt to offset Russia’s superiority, while Moscow’s overwhelming retaliatory strikes demonstrate its capacity to sustain long-term attrition.
if ukrainians admit 3 f-16s have been destroyed due to enemy action that means at least 6 are gone and at least another 6 are unoperational. i wonder what’s happening to the mirage 2000s. they will surely fare far worse than them sophisticated indian rafales.
any non white (specially africans and asians) would be beaten to death by the white supremacists of the following organizations: ss aidar, ss kraken, wolfsangel (aka azov), waffen ss nachtigall (who were in kursk killing civilians), leibstandarte adolf hitler, right sektor – all of them hate africans and asians, and all of them are leading the ukrainian government and military. all of them funded by the us and eu tax payers
you are a racist idiot. i hope someone does beat you to death.
another f-16 lost to ‘unforeseen weather events’. lol
i hope the crimean orcs were wearing sunscreen!
heheheheheh
russia still has big trouble with its absolutely corrupted neighbor . dystopia continues