Russian forces retreat aircraft after US grants Ukraine strike approval

The Russian army evacuated military helicopters and fighter jets, moving them inland after the United States allowed Ukraine to conduct attacks using American weapons on military targets in Russia, writes the project "Important Stories".

Russian troops moved helicopter and bomber fighter bases away from the border with Ukraine. "This is the result of the permission given to Ukraine to launch missiles like ATACMS on Russian territory," writes the Ukrainian OSINT team Frontelligence Insight in its closed bulletin.

Jet planes were removed from the "Baltimore" airbase in Voronezh, located 124 miles from the border with Ukraine. This airport played a significant role in the Russian Aerospace Forces' attacks on Ukrainian territory using controlled aerial bombs. The helicopter base in Rovenki in the Belgorod region and other large border airbases have also been emptied.

According to experts, the actions of the Russian Ministry of Defense will not affect the frequency and accuracy of the Russian Aerospace Forces' strikes on Ukrainian territory, but at the same time will complicate the work of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in their attempts to destroy Russian aircraft.

At the end of May, US President Joe Biden allowed Kyiv to use American weapons against military targets in Russia. Washington, however, limited the strike range to 62 miles from the border, depriving Ukrainian armed forces of the ability to strike key Russian airfields, wrote the "Washington Post". Later, the State Department stated that it would allow Ukraine to continue the attacks, but only if Russia "tried to expand the front".

On July 18, President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the United States and other Western countries to allow Kyiv to strike deep into Russia with long-range missiles so that the Ukrainian armed forces could destroy all airfields from which Russian aircraft take off to bomb Ukrainian cities.

The next day, the White House announced that the United States might reconsider its position on the permissibility of Ukrainian Armed Forces' attacks deep into Russian territory using American weapons. A few days earlier, a similar statement was made at the Pentagon.