‘If you see an Atacm coming, all you can do is duck’

For months, Russia has enjoyed air superiority along the front lines because of Ukrainian shortages of surface-to-air missiles. Moscow’s VKS air force has almost freely been able to drop glide bombs on targets – a tactic that was considered defining in the recent battle for Avdiivka, which was captured by Russian forces in February. “Additionally, although the US seems to prefer that US supplied weapons be used on Ukrainian soil by their very presence these weapons also force the Russians to reconsider the safety of aircraft in other airbases,” Dr Sidharth Kaushal, of the Rusi think tank in London, said. “If the VKS has to operate from air bases further back it limits the Russian air forces operational tempo and thus its overall effect on events on the ground.”