LONDON, August 17. /TASS/. The Kiev regime is racing to move around its weaponry and air force personnel amid increased Russian attacks on Ukrainian military facilities, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.
According to the newspaper, Moscow’s attacks appear to have the goal of "destroying Kiev’s ability to launch the long-range missiles it is receiving from Western allies." Among other weapons, these include British Storm Shadow and French Scalp missiles. Therefore, the FT writes, "Ukrainian pilots are constantly shuttling around dozens of domestic air bases and commercial airports."
Since mid-July, Russia’s Armed Forces have been delivering strikes in retaliation for Kiev’s attack on the Crimean Bridge. On July 19, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported a multiple strike by high-precision weapons against Ukrainian military industrial sites near Odessa and the Kanatovo airbase. On July 20, he said that retaliatory strikes had been delivered against the production workshops and storage sites for drone boats near the city of Odessa and Ilyichyovsk (known as Chernomorsk in Ukraine) in the Odessa Region. And on the next day, Russian forces delivered a precision strike against Ukrainian sites where terror attacks with the use of combat drones were being plotted against Russia.