F-16 New Symbol Of Ukrainian Defeat

The past week was marked by one of the most massive Russian attacks in Ukrainian rear regions since the very beginning of the Russian Special Military Operation. On Monday August 26, dozens of Ukrainian military, industrial and strategic energy facilities were struck. Since then, Russian drones and missiles have continued attacks throughout Ukraine every day. The night of August 30 was not an exception.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force Command, Ukraine was targeted by 18 kamikaze UAVs and one Iskander-M missile. The air defense forces allegedly destroyed 12 Russian drones.

The Ukrainian military command is famous for hiding its real losses. That’s why local reports about fires and explosions across the country are more reliable sources of information that allow to assess the scale of the damage.

One of today’s Russian strikes resulted in a large toxic fire in Sumy. The city hosts some production facilities of the chemical industry as well as large military warehouses used for operations in the Kursk region.

A series of strikes destroyed targets in the southern city of Odessa. The local authorities confirmed damage to the local port. According to local reports, a launcher of the US-made Patriot air defense system was destroyed. The deployment of the western missile system should have protected the precious cargo from NATO but failed.

At night, Russian UAVs struck the large Nadezhda gas pumping station in the Poltava region. More drones strikes were reported in Dnepropetrovsk, Vinnytsya and other regions.

The depleted Ukrainian air defense can no longer cope with the massive Russian attacks. The air defense forces have suffered heavy losses during the years of hostilities. The remaining air defense systems were deployed near the front, including in the Sumy region, where they are ground down by Russian strikes.

In an attempt to prolong the agony of Ukraine and push more Ukrainians into a slaughter, Kyiv’s NATO partners are sending limited amounts of their expensive military equipment into the war-torn country. One of the most precious gifts are few F-16 fighters that entered service with the Ukrainian Air Force just a couple of weeks ago. The aircraft are reportedly aimed to support the air defense, but obviously fail to fulfill the task.

Ukraine lost one of its first new fighter jets on one of its first missions. According to the western MSM, an F-16 crashed as a result of a pilot mistake. A Ukrainian deputy, however, claimed that it was shot down by a Patriot system. It could also have been destroyed by Russian strike on the host airfield which was revealed last week. No matter how the first F-16 was destroyed, it is a heavy blow to the Ukrainian military, the Kyiv regime and its NATO partners.