There are fears in the Kremlin and amongst military bloggers that the Ukrainian ‘aviation armada’ of F-16 fighter jets will blitz Russian military targets in Crimea.
Ukrainian forces have destroyed Russia’s air-defence systems which have failed to shoot down US supplied missiles.
US supplied ATACMS which is a ballistic missile have blown up various Russian targets and have a range of 186 miles.
The US supplied ATACMS blew up a radar system and a S-400 air-defence battery at a military base in Sevastopol, May.
On Tuesday ATACMS missiles wiped out another S-400 and a S-300 air-defence battery.
David Axe, a military correspondent for Forbes, said, “The S-400 was designed to have an anti-missile capability, but it obviously doesn’t work.
“Russia’s S-400s can’t defend nearby friendly forces—and they also can’t defend themselves. The more S-400s the Russians stage in Ukraine, the more they’re likely to lose.
The Ukrainian Center for Defence Strategies said, “At least 10 ATACMS missiles were used in the strike, with the Russian air-defence system failing to intercept any of them.”
The Kremlin fears that Ukrainian forces are taking out the radar systems and air-defences before launching an armada of an F-16 fighter jet squadron to take out most of Russia’s bases in Crimea.
A military blogger said, “First comes the stage of overcoming our defences with ATACMS, then NATO aviation based on the F16 comes into play, under the wings of which there is a wide range of ammunition.
“Observing the latest events, one can indeed come to the conclusion the US under the Ukrainian flag is clearing the skies for the use of the aviation armada prepared in advance in Romania and Poland.”
The Kremlin has criticised “NATO” for provoking Russia with the delivery of the multi-role fighter jets and the Foreign Ministry “cannot ignore” they F-16s could also carry nuclear payloads.
The Russian Foreign Ministry added in a statement, “We cannot ignore the fact that these planes are dual-purpose platforms that can be used both for nuclear and non-nuclear tasks.
“No matter what modification of the aircraft will be supplied [to Ukraine] we will treat them as nuclear-capable and we will consider this step of the United States and NATO as a purposeful provocation.”
Towards the end of May the Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen announced that Ukraine can use their F-16 multi-role fighter jets to strike targets inside Russia.
Russia’s Ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin said in a statement, “the use of Copenhagen-supplied weapons by Ukraine against targets inside Russia could lead to an uncontrolled development of the conflict.”
Lavrov told RIA state news agency that Belgium has pledged to send US-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine is a “signal action.”
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, “They are trying to tell us that the United States and NATO would stop at nothing in Ukraine.
“Nevertheless, we hope that the Russian-Belarusian drills on the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons that are under way now will knock some sense into our opponents by reminding them about the catastrophic consequences of further nuclear escalation.”
