The Ka-52 two-pilot attack helicopter is often compared to the American Apache as a deadly attack helicopter. Photo: Artem Aleksandrovich/Alamy
Russia is using attack helicopters equipped with long-range missiles to gain the upper hand on the key southern front of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, according to the UK Department of Defense (MoD).
Moscow has deployed more than 20 additional helicopters to Berdyansk airport, which is about 100 km from the front line, since Kiev launched an offensive earlier this month, the ministry's intelligence summary said.
“In the constant showdown between aviation and countermeasures, Russia has likely gained a temporary advantage in southern Ukraine, especially with attack helicopters using longer-range missiles against ground targets,” the Defense Ministry said.
Earlier this week, it indicated that Russian aircraft were «unusually active over southern Ukraine,» which is at the center of a counteroffensive as Ukraine hopes to cut Russia's land corridor between annexed Crimea and eastern Donetsk.
1006 Ukraine on the front line
The daily rate of sorties remains much lower than at the beginning of the invasion, when Russia made up to 300 sorties a day, the Defense Ministry said. But Russia has increased its use of air-to-surface weapons, which allow attack aircraft to remain at a considerable distance from their targets.
In particular, reports suggest that Russian attack helicopters are operating close to the front line in the south and could pose a serious threat to the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
One Ukrainian commander who spoke to The Guardian near the front line in Zaporozhye described » constant helicopter gunfire, three or four times a day,” saying his brigade had no effective way to knock them off the ground.
On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry released a grainy commercial purporting to show how Ka helicopters -52 destroy Ukrainian tanks.
“Maneuverable, ultra-reliable, mobile. The Ka-52 reconnaissance and attack helicopter has no shortcomings. Each sortie is successful, and hits are always right on target. He simply has no equal in the sky,» the video said over the background of incendiary music.
This is one of several such videos released over the past week.
Ukrainian tanks are under threat from the air in Zaporozhye. Photo: @mod_russia/Newsflash
Although the ground targets in the video are unclear, the Fighterbomber Telegram channel, citing Russian intelligence agencies, said in January that Russia should deploy its Ka-52 Alligators to destroy the Leopard tanks that the West had just promised Ukraine.
< p>“Tanks are easy to destroy with army helicopters, especially if there is no air defense. The tanks promised to Ukraine are a problem that we will have to solve. And, most likely, the Ka-52 will solve it, ”the message says.
Just a week ago, Rybar, one of the most respected Russian military bloggers on Telegram, published photos of a downed group of Ukrainian Leopard and Abrams tanks, claiming that Russian attack helicopters ambushed them.
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“At least some of the targets, including the American Bradleys, were destroyed by Ka-52 army helicopters, which is confirmed by objective surveillance footage,” the message says.
The Ka-52 twin-pilot attack helicopter is a modernized version of the Soviet-designed Ka-50 «Black Shark» and is often compared to the American Apache as a deadly attack helicopter. It is highly maneuverable and can be equipped with firepower, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft guided missiles.
increased use of air-class weapons -surface», which allows attack aircraft to stay away from their targets. Photo: Chris Christians/Alami
The British Ministry of Defense believes that at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Air Force had about 90 Ka-52s, but during the war it lost a significant number of valuable aircraft in «dangerous» missions. According to some estimates, the losses amounted to more than a third of the Ka-52 personnel. Other attack helicopters are also used, such as the Mi-24 Hind and Mi-28NM Havoc.
Unconfirmed videos posted online appear to be from helicopter cockpits and show Ka-52s attacking Ukrainian armored vehicles. Observers say there have been more such videos lately, suggesting that the use of attack helicopters has intensified since the start of Ukraine's counter-offensive.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu acknowledged that Russia needs to ramp up production of tanks «to meet needs Russian troops» in a counteroffensive, and Ukraine has said it has made «tactical successes» despite Russia's air superiority.
So far, there has been a relatively muted start to the counteroffensive that began earlier this month. But Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Anna Malyar said on Saturday that the troops «were actively attacking in several directions at once.»
She added: «In almost all areas where our units are attacking in the south, they made tactical gains… At the moment the advance is up to 2 km [1.3 miles] in each direction.”
Meanwhile, Russia claimed that the counter-offensive had failed and claimed that they had inflicted heavy losses on the Kievans.
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