By Dan Peleschuk
KYIV (Reuters) – Russia is increasingly using highly destructive guided bombs in its more than 2-1/2-year-old invasion of Ukraine, pummeling Ukrainian forces on the battlefield as well as towns and cities near the front line.
Last week alone, Moscow’s forces dropped more than 900 such weapons on Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
He has repeatedly called on Kyiv’s Western partners to help boost Ukraine’s long-range strike capabilities to neutralise the threat.
Here’s a look at Russia’s guided bombs:
WHAT ARE THEY?
The air-launched weapons are conventional, often Soviet-era ordnance that have been fitted with wings and satellite-aided navigation to extend their range and precision.
Also known as “glide bombs”, they are both cheaper than the ballistic and cruise missiles Russia regularly fires at Ukraine and more abundant. Weighing between 500 kg and 3,000 kg (1,100-6,600 lb), they are often dropped from beyond the range of Ukrainian air defences.
Their destructive power means they can ravage even strongly fortified Ukrainian defensive positions, which have been steadily crumbling in parts of the east in recent months.
“They are very simple in essence, so you cannot jam them, you cannot hide from them,” Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s former foreign minister, told the Financial Times earlier this year.
WHERE HAVE THEY BEEN USED?
Russia first stepped up its use of guided bombs earlier this year while capturing the now-ruined eastern city of Avdiivka. The weapons later played a critical role in a Russian cross-border offensive last May in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Russia has also dropped guided bombs on Kharkiv city itself, killing seven people last month in an attack on a residential building, officials in Ukraine said. Last week, 21 people were wounded in a strike on another apartment block.
The weapons have also rained down on the northeastern region of Sumy, including the regional capital, where Moscow struck a geriatric centre last week, since Ukraine’s cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.
HOW CAN UKRAINE DEFEND AGAINST THEM?
Zelenskiy and other officials are stepping up pressure on Kyiv’s allies to send more air-defence systems and allow Ukraine to use Western-provided weapons for strikes deep inside Russia.
Experts have said Kyiv’s best bet is to target the Russian warplanes that drop the weapons rather than intercept the individual bombs once released.
Last week, a Ukrainian drone strike destroyed a warehouse storing missiles, guided bombs and artillery ammunition in Russia’s Tver region, the domestic security service told Reuters.
A Ukrainian delegation including Zelenskiy is in the United States this week to press Kyiv’s case that Russia should be forced into peace.
(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Timothy Heritage)
