Russia employs new tactics to weaken Ukraine’s air defense – British Intel

Russian forces use balloons with radar reflectors suspended beneath them to gain information about Ukrainian air defence systems and compel the Ukrainians to expend valuable stocks of surface-to-air missiles and ammunition, British Intelligence reported. https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1627209113187897344 On 15 February 2023, Ukrainian armed forces spotted several balloon shaped objects over Kyiv. Ukrainian officials reported that they shot down at least six of those flying objects. All of the downed balloons carried radar reflectors. Earlier before, on 12 February 2023, Ukrainian armed forces tracked down several balloons over Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is highly likely that the balloons were Russian. These objects in the Ukrainian airspace likely represent a new tactic employed by Russia to gain information about Ukrainian air defence systems. Moreover, On 14 February 2023, sighting of a ‘balloon shaped’ object led to the closure of Moldovan airspace for several hours, British Intelligence reported. It is likely that this was a Russian balloon that had drifted to Moldova from Ukrainian airspace. Related:

• Russian spy balloons swarm into Ukrainian airspace
• Ukraine downs aerial reconnaissance vehicle, balloons in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast