Russia boosts attack with guided bombs

KYIV — Russia’s air force has dramatically boosted its effectiveness in the Ukraine war with its increased use of “glide bombs,” contributing to Moscow’s recent battlefield successes, according to Western experts.

The plentiful Soviet-era bombs, which carry up to a halfton of explosives, have been fitted with wings and guidance systems to fly long distances with some accuracy, allowing the Russian jets that release them to operate away from Ukrainian antiaircraft systems.

Along with Russian drones, missiles, and artillery, the glide bombs have added new destructive firepower to Russia’s campaign in eastern Ukraine, as seen in the recent conquest of the city of Avdiivka, Russia’s first major victory in nearly a year.

The most effective counter to this increasingly plentiful Russian menace, say Ukrainians, is still a long way off: the US-made F-16 planes the country has been seeking.

With the glide bombs, first deployed last year, Moscow has found an inelegant but effective solution to Ukraine’s denial of Russian air superiority since the early days of the war. Although Ukraine has both air defenses and some fighter planes, the glide bombs allow the Russians to attack from greater distances.

The bombs, “unfortunately, have a very high destructive power,” said Dmytro Lykhovii, a Ukrainian military spokesman in eastern Ukraine. These bombs “simply demolish, destroying houses and foundations that can be used for defense fortifications.”

Ukrainian forces also use guided bombs, including the US-made Joint Direct Attack Munition system, or JDAM, which is more accurate than the Russian version but in much shorter supply.

The Russian glide bombs most recently proved their deadly usefulness last month in Avdiivka, playing a major role in the capture of the town and transforming it into a blackened, bombed-out shell.

In an account posted on the social media site Telegram during the battle, Maksym Zhorin of Ukraine’s Third Separate Assault Brigade described how 60 to 80 of the glide bombs were crashing into his area every day.