(Dan Tri) – Ukrainian soldiers fighting on the front lines admit that Kiev is suffering serious damage from the destructive power of Russia’s smart glide bombs.
Ukrainian soldiers stand next to a large hole caused by a glide bomb (Photo: Getty).
A Ukrainian soldier fighting near the northern front line described the threat from Russian bombing.
Describing the war as `terrible`, a soldier named Lemur admitted that Ukrainian forces fighting in the area were unable to move forward.
`We could barely hold the front line,` he said.
According to British newspapers, Lemur is fighting in Kupiansk in Kharkov province, where the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says Russia has gained momentum in recent days.
The weapon that Russia increasingly uses in the current attack is glide bombs.
In essence, smart glide bombs are unguided bombs dating back to the Soviet Union, with Russia adding equipment capable of locating targets, significantly increasing the accuracy of the bomb.
Kyiv Post reported that, as of last month, Russia had used glide bombs heavily around hot spots of the war: Kupiansk, the eastern city of Bakhmut, and Robotyne, a strategic village in the southeast.
Glider bombs are often launched from aircraft at long distances and then guided to the target.
According to observers, Russia is taking advantage of the stagnation of Western military aid to Ukraine to accelerate attacks on many fronts at the same time.
Russia is increasing production of this weapon after it captured the stronghold of Avdiivka largely thanks to gliding bombs that flattened the enemy’s defense system.
Maksym Zhorin, a soldier with Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, said glide bombs `completely destroyed every position,` according to the Washington Post.
`All the buildings and structures simply turned into a hole after the bomb was dropped,` he said.
In an effort to push back Russian forces, Ukraine has fortified its own defenses.
However, these systems do not interfere with glide bombs.
Mykola Bielieskov, a military analyst at the Kyiv Institute for National Strategic Studies, said that air-to-air missiles on F-16 fighters could help Ukraine fight the threat of Russian glide bombs.
However, Western aid planes will not arrive in Ukraine until at least this summer.