British intelligence: Russia has deployed dozens of helicopters to southern Ukraine
Over 20 additional Russian combat helicopters have been deployed to Berdiansk airport in recent days
Russia has reinforced the defense of the southern part of the front with attack helicopters to deter the Ukrainian military's offensive.
Source. This was reported by the British Ministry of Defense intelligence in a Saturday report.
According to satellite imagery, more than 20 helicopters capable of hitting ground targets at long range have been deployed to the airport of occupied Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia region, in recent days. This allowed the Russian military to gain a temporary advantage in the airspace in southern Ukraine, the report says.
Berdiansk airport is located 100 kilometers from the front line. In total, 27 helicopters of the Russian army are stationed there, journalists of the Schemes project calculated after studying satellite images from Planet Labs.
These are 5 Ka-52 helicopters, 13 Ka-29 helicopters and 9 Mi-8 or Mi-24 helicopters.
With the start of the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to liberate seven settlements in Zaporizhzhya and Donetsk regions. By June 12, Lobkove, Levadne, Novodarivka, Neskuchne, Storozhove, Makarivka and Blahodatne had been recaptured – a total of 90 square kilometers, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar reported.
On June 16, Malyar said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had advanced up to 2 km in each direction, achieving tactical success, but admitted that the Russian army retains an advantage in artillery and aviation. Ukrainian troops are also facing widespread minefields.
Colonel Douglas McGregor, a former advisor to the Pentagon, said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces want to reach the main defense line and recapture Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia region. This will allow them to reach Crimea and cut the "land bridge" that supplies the Russian group from the peninsula. In this case, "the entire Russian front in the southeast of Ukraine could collapse," said Konrad Muzyka, director of the Polish Rochan Consulting.
Background. General Hodges noted that in the coming weeks the dynamics of the movement of Ukrainian forces will be much greater.
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