Today, the biggest news comes from the Ukrainian skies. Here, Ukrainians launched a massive F-16 airstrike campaign on Russian military targets, using the new Western jets’ deadly capabilities to the maximum. Ukrainians demonstrated their new capabilities by crippling Russian preparations for their spring offensive.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has intensified its aerial operations against Russian targets, leveraging newly acquired F-16s from the Netherlands and Mirage 2000s from France to conduct a series of strategic airstrikes. As you remember from previous reports, Ukrainians have already destroyed a massive number of Russian air defense systems, not only opening the sky to long-range strikes but also enabling much more aggressive air operations close to the front.
On the northern front, Ukrainians executed multiple precision strikes to disrupt Russian efforts. Near Grafivka, Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, Ukrainians used an American GBU-62 JDAM to destroy a Russian border checkpoint being used to store ammunition and gather personnel. Geolocated footage also confirms several more hits on Russian positions, targeting and disrupting Russian force accumulations as Russians keep sending in more reinforcements to deal with the Ukrainian incursion into Belgorod.
MiGs and Mirages shatter Russian lines
In Kursk, Ukrainian MiG-29s used French AASM Hammer guided bombs to target Russian force concentrations in Guevo and Goptarivka, preventing them from establishing footholds in these villages. The Ukrainian-French airstrike combination continued to devastate Russian efforts, targeting Russian drone operators’ launching points and command posts in Tetkino, and finally destroying a critical bridge used by armored vehicles in Kursk.
These strikes disrupted the Russian command and control structure, preventing coordinated Russian assaults into Sumy and dooming them to small infantry group tactics that were destined to fail. Meanwhile, the strikes on Russian drone operators’ outposts denied the Russians the ability to target Ukrainian troop movements on the Sumy-Sudzha road.
On the Donetsk and Luhansk frontlines, Ukrainian airstrikes have aimed to alleviate the pressure on Ukrainian defenders in the hottest sectors of the front. Along the Pishchane funnel near Kupiansk, Ukrainian aircraft successfully struck two-story buildings full of Russian soldiers. In Soledar, north of Bakhmut, a MAVIC 3 drone captured the impact of two GBU-62 JDAM bombs on Russian troop positions preparing for frontline deployment and assaults toward Siversk.
At Pokrovsk, Ukrainians carried out precision strikes in Selidove and Novojelyzavetivka, targeting large buildings housing Russian soldiers and drone operators, collapsing the structures and eliminating everyone inside.
Ukrainian intel-led strikes kill Russian commanders
Finally, in Velyka Novosilka, reconnaissance drones guided AASM Hammer bombs to hit buildings being used as command posts and gathering points for Russian soldiers. Notably, Ukrainian strike aircraft have been operating with increased confidence, bolstered by air-to-air fighter cover provided by the newly acquired F-16s and Mirage 2000s.
With increased air-to-air and radar capabilities, this enhanced fighter support was used to engage enemy aircraft while allowing Ukrainian strike planes to focus on destroying their targets. At Kherson, this allowed Ukrainians to repeatedly target the command post of Russia’s 81st self-propelled artillery regiment near Nechaeve, resulting in the elimination of approximately 30 Russian officers.
After the Russians had replaced the killed commanders of the regiment, Ukrainian intelligence passed on the coordinates of their new command post. The footage shows Ukrainian bombs hitting the target on precise weak points with GBU-62 guided bombs, allowing them to penetrate and cause massive internal damage to the new command post, despite not even being bunker busters.
Additionally, a MiG-29 delivered two AASM Hammer bombs on a Russian company command post and a building housing Russian troops on the Dnipro River bank.
Overall, recent airstrikes reveal a clear Ukrainian focus on hidden troop concentrations and command centers, disrupting command structures and undermining Russian assaults before they can even begin. Bolstering Ukraine’s aerial capabilities by delivering Western fighter jets and precision-guided munitions has allowed for a massive airstrike campaign against Russian targets.
The Air Force has combined older jets like the MiG-29s with newly acquired F-16s and Mirage 2000s, enabling more expansive use of precision munitions such as GBU-62 JDAM and AASM Hammer bombs. These Western multi-role fighters can participate in the Ukrainian airstrike campaign and provide air-to-air cover for Ukrainian jets conducting strikes.
Most notably, Ukrainians conducted over 19 successful airstrikes against high-priority Russian targets over the last two weeks alone. With France continuing to supply approximately 50 AASM Hammer bombs to Ukraine per month, Ukrainians can continue to devastate Russian offensive plans.
In our daily frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
