‘Russia’s lack of air superiority exacerbated due to poor training’

November 8, 2022

Smoke rises near a local railway administration headquarters damaged in shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine on Monday.

Voice of America :
Britain’s Defense Ministry said Monday that Russia’s loss of experienced air crew members during the invasion of Ukraine is contributing to Russia’s “lack of air superiority is likely exacerbated by poor training,” and “heightened risks of conducting close air support in dense air defense zones.”
The U.K. said Russia’s air capacity “is unlikely to change in the next few months,” in an update posted on Twitter. “Russia’s aircraft losses likely significantly outstrip their capacity to manufacture new airframes. The time required for the training of competent pilots further reduces Russia’s ability to regenerate combat air capability.”
In Kherson Sunday, residents were without lights and water, as the city’s Russian-installed officials accused Ukraine of “sabotage,” without evidence.
The Kremlin-backed officials said an attack organized by Ukraine, damaged “three concrete poles of high-voltage power lines.”
The authorities said energy specialists were working to “quickly” resolve the issue, according to Agence France-Presse.
However, Yaroslav Yanushevych, the Ukrainian head of the Kherson regional administration, blamed Russia for the power outages.
Yanushevych wrote on Telegram: “In temporarily occupied Beryslav, Russian troops blew up high-voltage power lines. About one and a half kilometers of utility poles and lines were destroyed.”
The “damage is quite extensive,” he added, according to AFP.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials have said in the past month that between 30% and 40% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed by Russian airstrikes.
He said in his nightly video address Sunday, “As of this evening, stabilization blackouts continue in Kyiv and six regions. More than 4.5 million consumers are without electricity. Most of them are now in Kyiv and the Kyiv region. It’s really difficult.”
In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned the city’s residents Sunday that they must prepare for the worst this winter – such as having no electricity, water or heat in the freezing cold – if Russia keeps striking the country’s energy infrastructure.
“We are doing everything to avoid this. But let’s be frank, our enemies are doing everything for the city to be without heat, without electricity, without water supply, in general, so we all die.