Photo: Getty images

Russian troops have significantly reduced the use of aviation due to the consequences of strikes on airfields and the active use of drones. The spokesman for the Khortytsia operational and strategic grouping of troops, Viktor Tregubov, said this on Thursday, 16 January, during a telethon.

Key points:

• Reduced air strikes: According to Tregubov, the Russians have significantly limited the use of manned aircraft due to the destruction of their airfield infrastructure.
• Loss of equipment: The Russian army has lost most of its modern tanks and is forced to use outdated equipment that no longer plays a decisive role in the war.
• Artillery problems: The use of tanks as “crooked artillery” has become a common practice for Russian troops.

“The Russians have almost exhausted even their Soviet stocks of equipment. But tanks are no longer a key factor in the war – there are few of them left, but this no longer poses serious difficulties for Ukrainian defence,” Tregubov said.

Effective air defence

The spokesperson noted that the Ukrainian military’s strikes on enemy airfields have proved to be effective: “There is no better air defence than a missile that has hit an enemy airfield.”