At the hours of darkness, Ukraine’s air protection methods roared to life, countering a large-scale Russian drone offensive that turned the skies over Odesa right into a theater of relentless anti-aircraft fireplace.
Footage shared on social media, purportedly from the Ukrainian aspect, reveals tracer rounds streaking by the evening, evoking scenes from a science-fiction battle. The extreme bursts of fireside from Ukrainian anti-aircraft artillery [AAA] aimed to neutralize what Kyiv has termed an “invisible risk.”
In response to Ukraine’s armed forces, a complete of 53 drones have been downed in a single day, whereas one other 30 reportedly slipped previous the protection methods. Nonetheless, it stays unclear whether or not these figures pertain to the Odesa assault particularly or mirror incidents throughout Ukraine.
In the meantime, Russian sources, together with Rybar, confirmed that Moscow launched widespread drone strikes on Ukrainian targets in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Cherkasy areas. The strikes reportedly concerned Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones—dubbed Geran-2 by Russian forces. Explosions have been reported in all three areas.
Past the Shahed-136, Ukrainian sources declare that different, unidentified drones have been additionally deployed. The assault originated from a number of Russian areas, together with Kursk, Oryol, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk. Ukrainian studies moreover counsel that Kharkiv’s territory was focused by an S-300 surface-to-air missile.
The assault underscores a broader escalation in hostilities in southern Ukraine, the place Russian forces have intensified efforts to strike vital logistics hubs, together with these in Odesa. Town’s port, an important node for Ukraine’s provide chains and navy operations, has turn into a focus of Moscow’s navy marketing campaign.
Russian sources alleged that their forces struck particular berths—22, 25, and 37—inside the Odesa Business Sea Port, focusing on containers allegedly housing ammunition, spare components for navy gear, and parts for Western-supplied weapon methods.
In response to pro-Russian commentators and Telegram accounts, the strikes inflicted injury on 155mm and 105mm artillery shells meant for Ukrainian howitzers just like the M777 and L119, in addition to modular components for armored automobiles and tanks, corresponding to HMMWV and M113 drivetrains. Superior methods, together with Switchblade loitering munitions and reconnaissance platforms, have been additionally reportedly destroyed.
Along with direct strikes on navy {hardware}, the assaults severely broken infrastructure essential for additional navy support shipments. One other important blow was the destruction of kit related to the upkeep of Western fight plane. Russian sources, together with Army Maps, claimed that gear used for servicing Mirage 2000 jets and different plane equipped to Ukraine was destroyed. They particularly talked about the lack of Thales TopFlight navigation methods and Spectra radar components, that are used to protect plane from floor and aerial threats.
Russian claims additional emphasised the focusing on of hidden logistics bases, vital to Ukraine’s wartime provide chain. One such base on Odeska Road in Odesa reportedly housed vehicles transporting artillery shells, cellular restore models for armored automobiles, and navigation methods coordinating navy maneuvers. The destruction of those amenities is believed to have disrupted Ukraine’s logistics, probably paralyzing some frontline operations.
Among the many notable losses, Russian sources cited the destruction of a German-supplied Gepard anti-aircraft system stationed to defend the port. Regardless of its effectiveness in opposition to low-flying threats, the Gepard reportedly couldn’t face up to the sheer quantity of incoming drones.
Nonetheless, Ukraine’s efforts to repel the assault got here at a price. Some intercepted drones and missiles crashed into civilian areas, inflicting injury to residential buildings and infrastructure. Streets like Kosmonavtiv, Hohol, Pastyor, Novoselskyi, and Hulogo-Hulenka bore the brunt of those impacts.
Though it’s tough to find out the anti-aircraft artillery used over Odessa and proven within the video, it’s completely doable {that a} portion of the extraordinary anti-drone strike got here from German-supplied Gepard methods. The Flugabwehrkanonenpanzer Gepard, a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun system, operates on a precept of fast and extremely correct fireplace utilizing twin 35mm autocannons.
These cannons are able to focusing on a variety of aerial threats, together with drones, plane, and missiles, at a blistering charge. What units the Gepard aside is its capacity to unleash a relentless barrage of rounds, every one designed to maximise injury on incoming targets, making it a formidable instrument in trendy air protection.
The 35mm shells utilized by the Gepard are designed to ship devastating explosive energy upon affect. With a muzzle velocity of round 1,000 meters per second, the rounds journey at excessive pace, minimizing the time it takes for the projectile to achieve its goal. This excessive velocity is important when participating fast-moving threats, corresponding to drones or low-flying plane, and ensures that the Gepard stays a extremely efficient countermeasure even in opposition to quickly altering aerial conditions.
The true energy of the Gepard lies in its charge of fireside. The system can fireplace as much as 1,000 rounds per minute per gun, although in operational eventualities, it’s widespread to fireplace at a sustained charge of round 500 rounds per minute per barrel. This excessive charge of fireside ensures that the weapon can persistently keep strain on targets, rising the probability of a profitable interception. The hearth management system, which incorporates computerized loading and focusing on, minimizes the time between pictures, permitting the Gepard to interact a number of targets in fast succession.
With such a excessive quantity of fireside, the noise produced by the Gepard is substantial, with every burst making a thunderous racket that’s unmistakable in battle. This attribute sound is a defining function of the Gepard and serves as a transparent indicator of its presence on the battlefield. The explosive affect of the rounds is tailor-made to destroy smaller or mid-sized targets, corresponding to drones or incoming missiles, by shattering them into items upon detonation.
When in motion, the Gepard can fireplace fast successive rounds with solely temporary pauses for its automated focusing on system to regulate. This steady fireplace functionality permits the system to trace and destroy fast-moving targets which may in any other case evade slower, much less responsive air protection methods. The weapon’s capacity to adapt to altering goal trajectories in actual time ensures that it stays an efficient countermeasure in opposition to extremely maneuverable threats.
In abstract, the Gepard represents a cutting-edge instance of contemporary anti-aircraft artillery, combining pace, accuracy, and devastating firepower to interact a wide range of aerial threats with unmatched effectivity. The system’s excessive charge of fireside and explosive affect make it a key asset in any air protection technique, guaranteeing that the skies are saved away from enemy drones and plane with minimal delay.
Russia, in flip, claimed that Ukrainian drones focused its personal territories. In response to the Russian Ministry of Protection, 34 Ukrainian drones have been intercepted in a single day. These included 20 over the Kursk area, 11 over Bryansk, and one every over Crimea, Belgorod, and Kaluga. Moscow framed these incidents as “terrorist assaults by the Kyiv regime.”
As either side escalate their use of unmanned methods, the skies above Ukraine and Russia have gotten more and more contested, with the results reverberating far past the battlefield.
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On February 21, 2022, Russia said that its border facility was attacked by Ukrainian forces, ensuing within the deaths of 5 Ukrainian fighters. Nonetheless, Ukraine shortly dismissed these allegations, labeling them as ‘false flags’.
In a notable transfer on the identical day, Russia introduced it formally acknowledged the self-proclaimed areas of DPR and LPR. Apparently, in accordance with Russian President Putin, this recognition lined all of the Ukrainian areas. Following this declaration, Putin despatched a battalion of Russia’s navy forces, tanks included, into these areas.
Quick ahead to February 24, 2022, world headlines have been dominated by a important incident. Putin commanded a forceful navy assault on Ukraine. Led by Russia’s spectacular Armed Forces positioned on the Ukrainian border, this assault wasn’t spontaneous however a premeditated motion. Regardless of the circumstances resembling a struggle, the Russian authorities refrains from utilizing this time period. They’d moderately check with it as a “particular navy operation”.
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