Half of what is now flying over our heads are missiles from the planes that we gave to the Russian Federation a third of a century ago. Just like today, we believed in the promises about collective security that Russia, along with other nuclear powers, gave us. According to the memorandum signed in Budapest, Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons, handing them over to its northern neighbor. These are thousands of warheads, and along with them, their carriers were given away and destroyed.
In 1992, the armed forces of the young independent Ukraine numbered 980,000 servicemen, more than 7,000 tanks – the second largest armored force in Europe after the Russian Federation, and the same number of artillery systems. We had a huge, very diverse, modern, at that time, well-integrated air defense system, a military air fleet in the amount of one and a half thousand aircraft. For comparison, at the beginning of the large-scale offensive in February 2022, barely one and a half hundred aircraft were able to defend the skies of Ukraine. At the same time, millions of tons of shells, mines, and rockets were stored in warehouses. The same ones that we are now begging from our partners and can’t wait for. Where did it all go when it became absolutely necessary for us?
The special operation of the Main Directorate of Intelligence gave an opportunity to the old Ukrainian S 200 anti-aircraft missile for the first time in two years of the war to shoot down the enemy strategic bomber Tu 22M3 and the X 22 missiles it had launched. Missiles armed with this type of aircraft can carry a nuclear charge. Ukraine handed over to the Russian Federation and destroyed more than fifty such bombers. The latter was cut into scrap metal in front of television cameras in the distant 2006. Thousands of guided missiles were also transferred to Russia, and only two years later Russia attacked Georgia.
In the 1990s, the Ukrainian army was reduced due to the economic crisis, in the 2000s it was destroyed by corrupt officials, and during the years of Yanukovych’s presidency, this destruction became total. In 2013, the army was reduced tenfold – to 120,000, and this despite the fact that there was information about the preparation of the Russian Federation for the invasion of our territory in March 2015. According to the SBI investigation, the Yanukovych-era military leadership systematically destroyed any possibility of a quick response to the invasion.
In August 2012, the Chief of the General Staff of Zaman issued a directive on the subordination of all armed forces in Crimea to the command of the Black Sea Fleet. That is, the Ukrainian General Staff was deprived of the opportunity to directly issue orders to air defense units (for example, to shoot down landing planes), or to the Air Force – in the event of an attack, to raise the planes and close the sky. This actually happened in 2014, when the command of the fleet switched to the side of Russia, and Russian military planes with “little green men” landed on Crimean airfields without any resistance.
It should be noted that at the beginning of 1992, in terms of the number of aircraft and airfields, Ukraine was second only to the USA, Russia and China. After the collapse of the USSR, three air armies (1,100 combat aircraft) joined the Air Force of Ukraine:
– fighters: 2 divisions (8 regiments) — 80 MiG-23, 220 MiG-29, 40 Su-27;
front bombers: 2 divisions (5 regiments) — 150 Su-24;
– bombers (long-range aviation): 2 divisions (3 regiments) — 30 Tu-160, 30 Tu-22, 36 Tu-22M;
– reconnaissance aviation: 3 regiments — 30 Tu-22, 15 MiG-25, 30 Su-17, 12 Su-24;
Reb aviation regiment: 35 Yak-28;
– 4 aviation centers: 240 MiG-21, 60 Su-24, 550 L-39 “Albatross”/L-29 “Dolphin”.
In September 2008, the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, announced that out of 1,100 aircraft at the beginning of independence, only 31 fighters, 10 bombers, 8 attack aircraft and 6 reconnaissance aircraft remained operational. Most of the airfields were closed. The situation with air defense systems was no better either, they were reduced as much as possible and divided into pieces, effectively paralyzing the ability to quickly react to Russian aggression. However, despite everything, we remained the owners of the rocket technology of the entire Soviet Union. In particular, a missile complex with a range of more than 500 kilometers called “Sapsan” and then “Thunder” was in service.
Ukrainian military experts are sure that the war could have been avoided if our army had been armed with “Grim” with 1,000 missiles before them. However, Russian citizen Pavlo Lebedev, whom Yanukovych made Minister of Defense of Ukraine, was able to completely stop this threat to the Kremlin, in 2013 he closed the missile program. But the state traitor, who is hiding in Moscow, had more time. According to the materials of the SBI investigation, in 2013, meetings were held at the General Staff, at which gunners had to report on the “firing” of ammunition. Each meeting is hundreds of thousands of 152-millimeter shells, missiles for Grads and Hurricanes, which we are so lacking now. All these munitions were fired at the ranges of the ground forces. In addition to reducing the number of precious ammunition, such “shooting” catastrophically damaged the gun barrels. In departmental orders, it was written that shells and rockets were fired to reduce the load on warehouses.
The load on the artillery warehouses was systematically reduced and in a much more effective way – they began to explode. The first explosion occurred in 2003 – a fire destroyed several thousand tons of shells in warehouses in Bakhmut. The date of the fire is interesting – the fire started on October 10, 2003, during the border conflict on the island of Tuzla. Then the warehouses began to fly into the air almost every year – 10 of the 17 arsenals detonated, and with the most valuable stocks of missiles and jet systems. In this case, we should recall the rare cases in Balaklia, Kharkiv region. Although even in the 90s, when the army was in a miserable state, no explosions at warehouses in Ukraine were recorded at all.
However, let’s return to aviation. Of course, the exact data on the current quantitative composition of our and Russian aviation are classified, but we can still make an impression. According to open sources of information, the strategic aviation of the Russian Federation currently has more than two hundred aircraft, all of which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, refueling in the air, and traveling thousands of kilometers. In particular, the already mentioned Tu 22 M3 – 124 units, Tu-160 – 16 units, Tu 95 (various modifications) – 32 units are on combat duty. And there is also a MiG-31K, when it takes off, sirens are activated all over Ukraine. There is a lot of work for our air defense forces, as well as for the state as a whole – to stand and win.
He who does not feed his army will feed someone else’s. We did not believe that we would be attacked, so we gave the opportunity to destroy the defense capabilities of our army. Now the Armed Forces of Ukraine is heroically destroying the enemy with the means of the 21st century, but the lack of aircraft, anti-aircraft means, and “shell hunger” remain the most precocious places. This is what Ukraine is currently facing, so we have high hopes for our diplomacy. The quality of aid from our partners will depend on it, so today everyone is looking forward to the results of the vote in the US Congress on the package of military aid to our country, because a successful vote will significantly strengthen its position.
Yaroslav Erofeev
