The shocking leap into the void of Russian pilots and the specter of a sabotage of their own generals

The air war over Ukraine seems to have entered a new phase, with the 50% increase in flights of Russian aviation fighter-bombers, drones and gunned drones. It's about 300 flights a day when at the beginning of the war they didn't reach 200. The Russian air campaign was delayed after being hit hard by Ukrainian forces using mobile anti-aircraft missiles provided by Britain and the United States. In a single weekend, at the end of March, Ukrainians shot down four Russian fighters, two drones and a helicopter, as well as intercepting two missiles. They even dared to attack fuel tanks inside Russian territory. In the coming days, six MIG29Ms sent by Egypt to the government of Kyiv will come into operation in an agreement by which the United States handed over, in exchange, to Cairo modern F-16s. The skies of Ukraine will in the next few days be the scene of an air confrontation as not seen since World War II.

Alongside the air offensive there is also one of the many miseries of war. During Holy Week Ukrainian intelligence — with the support of information from satellites and listeners from the Pentagon and British MI6 — confirmed that there were “strange” episodes starring Russian pilots when their ships were hit by anti-aircraft fire. When he ejected, his parachutes didn't work and fell like a stone on the ground. The Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said that the preliminary results “suggest that one of the reasons for the failure of the parachute may be its deliberate incorrect installation before departure.”

And they showed the video of the downing of a Russian Su27 aircraft, the pilot's jump and the precipitous fall. Of note are the folds of the parachute that never opened and which would show that it was defective or, as the Ukrainians claim, had been sabotaged before taking off. “Now a detailed study is being carried out of the wreckage of this and other previously shot down planes of the Russian fascists. Preliminary results show that one of the reasons for the failure of the parachute may be its deliberate improper stowage before departure,” reported the Kyiv Defense Ministry.

“Bringing these people to justice and exposing the truth to the whole world does not fall within the rules of the Kremlin. It is better to 'adjust' the pilot's parachute a little before departure. It is done by traditionally insignificant and imperceptible special agents. As they say, `Zap' and that's it. It means dead pilots don't count anything. It's not the first time it's happened. They did this throughout the Cold War and in the invasion of Crimea,” the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Office posted on its official Facebook account.

Following this statement, social media was filled with testimonies about other similar cases involving Russian pilots in Syria, Chechnya and Georgia. “Young Russian pilots are turned into kamikazes in spite of them,” says a former Russian military man exiled in Britain. “It's a new Stakhanovist initiative. Russian mothers are not giving birth to children but machines to pilot planes and bomb civilians,” wrote another Telegram subscriber from Siberia.

This woman was referring to the Stakhanovist movement that was part of Stalinist propaganda. Stakhanov was a coal pit miner in Donetsk, paradoxically Ukrainian territory now attacked by the Russians, who devised a method to increase production. He managed to extract in a single day, on August 30, 1935, together with three companions, 102 tons of coal, exceeding the collection targets 14 times. When Stalin found out, he decorated him and turned him into a celebrity with tours of the Soviet Union. He appeared on the cover of the American magazine Time in December of that year. Stakhanov sacrificed everything for the sake of “building communism” as Putin would now like his pilots to make the same commitment. And if he doesn't succeed, apparently his agents do it through other avenues.

Beyond the methods, Russian aviation imposed its superiority on the Ukrainian battlefield beyond the fact that many of the missions were carried out without crossing the airspace of its neighbor. Most of the time he attacks from his own territory or that of his unconditional ally, Belarus. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported a month ago that it had destroyed 81 radar stations and damaged 90% of Ukrainian airfields, paralyzing its combat aviation.

Although neither the claims of Kiev nor those of Moscow, nor the number of aircraft lost, cannot be verified, Russia, which has many more fighter-bombers, has not yet gained full control of the skies. The Su-30, Su-34 and Su-35 with the blue and gold Ukrainian flag on their wings continue to make dozens of night outings to defend Ukrainian cities from shelling. There were also unverified reports of an aviation ace dubbed the “Ghost of Kyiv”, who is said to have shot down six Russian planes without assistance in the first two weeks of the war and is still operating.

Although in recent days, Russian pilots seem to have resumed the initiative. “The Russian Aerospace Forces are changing the way they are conducting operations,” Michael Kofman, director of Russian studies at CNA, a Virginia-based think tank, told the Washington Post. “And this is because either there is wear and tear on a significant percentage of Ukrainian air defenses, or they are being much more careful in how to carry out these departures.”

According to the specialized magazine AirLive, Ukraine concentrated air defenses in the capital, Kyiv, and the second largest city, Kharkiv, which has been bombed for weeks. This left Russia freer to carry out more airstrikes on the southern port city of Mariupol. Kremlin forces have been trying to gain control of the city since the invasion began on February 24, but it still faces a major source of resistance in the industrial zone of the Azovstal steel plant. As a result, it destroyed 90 per cent of the city's infrastructure and killed more than 20,000 civilians. “Not many Russian planes have been shot down in the vicinity of Mariupol, but you can see that they have carried out many attacks,” Kofman said. “You get the feeling that the Ukrainian military has decided to defend certain areas over others.”

The large number of MANPADS, the anti-aircraft launchers, which Ukraine now owns forced Russia to reduce the flight of helicopters and jets at low altitude. That is why the attacks are being, in general, with cruise missiles from bombers that are kept within Russian borders.

Other Russian aircraft venture into Ukrainian airspace for only short periods. “It is operating mainly with Su-25 planes and helicopters over southern Ukraine,” commented Rob Lee, a former Marine Corps infantry officer. “From Belarus, the more advanced Su-35s are operating, but in general they make short incursions with very specific missions and short sections.”

After the failure of the seizure of Kyiv and last week's naval tragedy with the sinking of the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet, and the heroic Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol, Putin is in dire need of a token of his power. Aviation could give you some good news. Although if Ukraine receives this week the planes and anti-missile batteries promised by the European Union and the United States, the isolated Kremlin leader could be watered down with plans to sing a victory on May 9, when he is scheduled for his annual military parade on Red Square.

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