In the blink of an eye, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has entered the 23rd day, and from the current situation, the attack range of the Russian ground troops seems to be stuck in the state of March 11.
There are three reasons for this:
(1) Russia has repeatedly claimed that the purpose of the Russian army to launch special military operations is not to occupy Ukraine, but to achieve the demilitarization of Ukraine, which means that the purpose of the Russian ground forces is more to "force talks with war", and at present, Russia's offensive sites are basically closer to their own supply sites, and the front line is not too long.
(2) At present, Russia and Ukraine have not given up negotiations, put Putin obviously put the negotiation can be resolved in the preferred preference, if Zelenskiy compromises, then Russia will withdraw troops.
(3) The Russian army did encounter Resistance from Ukraine, but the Russian army's blow to the resistance was not strong, and there were many means to crush the Ukrainian Army, but Russia did not invest more weapons and equipment. For example, more artillery shelling, bomber dispatches, etc., in urban areas, the collateral damage of non-precision strikes was still considered.
The West and Zelenskiy described the Russian offensive as "foot-and-roll", Zelenskiy believes that the current Ukraine is no longer the Ukraine of 2014, and the current Ukrainian resistance is stubborn, which allows Ukraine to protect itself from all-out attacks for more than 20 days. In fact, the Russian military's precision strike operations basically covered the entire Ukraine.
After talking about the latest developments, let's talk about the Sukhoi "Flanker" fighter in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Both Russia and Ukraine were major users of the Sukhoi Flanker series fighters. Prior to the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Ukrainian Air Force was equipped with about 40 Su-27 series fighters, while the Russian Air force and naval aviation were equipped with more than 300 Flanker (Su-27/30/35S) series fighters. After the armed forces of the Russian Federation launched a special military operation in Ukraine, the "Flanker" series fighters of both sides, as the main fighters of their respective armed forces, launched a fierce confrontation over Ukraine, and both sides suffered mutual losses.
Let's start with the Ukrainian Air Force as a defender. Before the outbreak of the conflict, the number of Su-27 fighters available to the Ukrainian Air Force was about 20-30, all of which were Su-27s left in Ukraine when the Soviet Union split in the 1990s, and in recent years Ukraine has upgraded some of the better-looking Su-27s, the most advanced model is the Su-27P1M. The Su-27 of the Ukrainian Air Force was divided into 2 tactical aviation brigades deployed at Ozelne Air Base in Zhytomyr O'D. and Mirgorod Air Base in Poltava Oblast.
After the Russian army entered Ukraine for special military operations on February 24, the 831 Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force deployed at Mirgorod Air Base in Poltava Oblast dispatched Su-27s to defend Kiev, and the Ukrainian Air Force's anti-aircraft missile unit misjudged its Su-27 as a Russian Air force fighter jet during the chaotic battle.
As a result, a Su-27 of the 831st Brigade was shot down by its own anti-aircraft missile, and the wreckage of the Su-27 crashed on the outskirts of Kiev, and the pilot successfully catapulted but the parachute failed to deploy normally, and died on the spot. According to information released by the Ukrainian military, the pilot of this Su-27 was Colonel Alexander Osanchenko, deputy brigade commander of the 831st Brigade, and the Su-27 of the Ukrainian Air Force suffered heavy losses on the first day of the battle.
On the same day that the Su-27 of the 831st Brigade was shot down by friendly fire, another 39 tactical aviation brigade equipped with the Su-27 also had a Su-27 defection that shocked the international community. On 24 February, a Su-27 from the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force defected to NATO member Romania during a mission in Odessa, and the Romanian Air Force dispatched two F-16 fighter jets to force the heavily armed Su-27 to land at Bakau airport. After a series of negotiations, the Romanian Air Force disarmed the Su-27 on March 1 and deported it.
In the ensuing air confrontation, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have shot down a number of Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jets, but these results lacked corresponding camera guns or wreckage image verification. However, according to satellite photos of Ozerne Air Base taken by US commercial satellites, two Su-27 fighters of the 39th Air Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force were damaged to varying degrees.
Let's look at Russian air power as an offensive party. In the first week of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Russian Air and Space Force, the second largest in the world, was almost collectively invisible, and it was difficult to find any trace of the Activities of the Russian Air and Space Force except for the wreckage of the Kh-31 air-to-ground missile on the outskirts of Kiev.
The massive outburst of Russian Air and Space Force fighter jets came after the second week of the conflict. According to the rather limited video data of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the battle briefing, it can be known that the Russian Air and Space Force dispatched the ace fighter Su-35S in this special military operation, and the more primitive Su-27SM series and the two-seat Su-30SM did not move. Judging from the mounting and battle briefings, the Su-35S of the Russian Air and Space Force was mainly responsible for the combat tasks of competing for air supremacy and covering their own ground attack aircraft during this special military operation.
According to the commendation report of the Russian Ministry of Defense on March 17, Lieutenant Ilya Pere perkin, the pilot of the Su-35S of the Russian Air Force, found 2 Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 fighters in the process of covering the advance of the ground troops, and in the case of electromagnetic interference, Lieutenant Pere Perkin took a favorable position with his skilled air combat skills and the excellent mobility of the Su-35S fighter, shooting down 2 Ukrainian Air Force Su-27s with 3 air-to-air missiles fired by one enemy and two. This is the most outstanding result of the Su-35S fighter against the third-generation aircraft since its service, and it can also be seen that the Su-35S, known as the "peak of the flanker", has an overwhelming air superiority in the face of the most primitive Ukrainian "flanker", and the advantage of half a generation ahead of the russian-Ukrainian air confrontation is vividly displayed.
Due to not participating in close-range ground fire support operations, the Russian Air and Space Force's Su-35S has not been shot down so far, and in the case of the Ukrainian Air Force aviation and medium- and long-range air defense missile units being completely suppressed, the Russian Air and Space Force's Su-35S fighter is expected to achieve excellent results in the Russian-Ukrainian air confrontation.
Russian naval aviation was not highly involved in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict but suffered losses. Videos circulating on social media show that a Su-30SM fighter of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet Aviation was shot down near the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa on March 5, the only Su-30SM battle damage that can be confirmed so far.
Judging from the results, the Sukhoi flanker infighting, radar, avionics, and guided weapons of the Russian Air Force Su-35S "top of the flankback" won a complete victory, while the Su-27 of the Ukrainian Air Force, which was almost in a primitive state, was somewhat powerless in the face of the blue-clad su-35S, and the Ukrainian flanker painted in digital camouflage would completely withdraw from the stage of history after the end of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.