The death of Urumqi's ace pilot has attracted much attention! Russian reporter: His plane was shot down in the air battle with the Russian army

Source: Global Times

[Liu Yupeng, Special Correspondent of the Global Times] "Ukrainian ace pilot Dennis Vassiliuk was killed in battle." The Independent News Agency of Ukraine reported on the 19th that on the 18th, the 831st Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces issued an obituary on social media, saying that Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Vassiliuk, chief of staff and first vice captain of the aviation brigade of the brigade (as shown in the picture) He died during the operation. The obituary said: "Vassiliuk is a fighter pilot of the Ukrainian armed forces air force and has rich combat experience. From February 2022 to his death, he has carried out dozens of combat missions." It was reported that Vassiliuk had won the "Medal of Courage" at all levels of Ukraine (Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3). His death was undoubtedly a great loss to the Ukrainian air force.

The picture shows Denis Vasiliuk (second from the right), the ace pilot of Ukraine

The Russian Military Observer Network reported that the Ukrainian military did not release other information, nor did it specify when, where and under what circumstances Vassiliuk was killed. Vasiliuk is considered one of the best pilots in the Ukrainian Air Force. Public information shows that he flew the Su-27 fighter, which is one of the most powerful fighters equipped by the Ukrainian Air Force. In August 2014, the force was equipped with 40 fighters, mainly Su-27 fighters.

Russian war correspondent Yevgeny Poddubne said that Denis Vasilyuk, one of the best pilots of the Ukrainian armed forces, was killed in the area of special military operations. His Su-27 fighter was shot down by the R-37M long-range air-to-air missile in the air battle with the Russian air force fighter. He said that Ukraine had lost a pilot who could fly F-16 fighter planes to carry out combat missions in the future. The first batch of F-16 fighter planes provided by western countries will be handed over to the Ukrainian army. The problem facing the Ukrainian army now is that some potential Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilots have either died in battle or are undergoing accelerated training.

Poddubne said that during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine for more than two years, the Ukrainian air force lost a large number of pilots, including the most experienced officers. The number of combat aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force is rapidly decreasing. At the beginning of February, Ukrainian pilot Vladislav Rikov was killed while performing a combat mission over the "Donetsk Republic". He flew a total of 385 sorties and is a pilot with rich combat experience. The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment on the news. According to the report, according to the latest data of the Russian Ministry of Defense, since the special military operation, the Russian army has destroyed 601 Ukrainian army aircraft and 274 helicopters.

Extended Reading

The fierce battle in Kharkov's direction Foreign media: the Russian Ukrainian conflict will enter a critical moment

"The conflict between Russia and Ukraine will usher in a critical moment." The BBC reported on this topic on the 17th that Ukraine had already known that Russia planned to launch an offensive in the summer, but did not know where to start. The answer to this question became clear as Russia launched an offensive against the border area near Kharkov, Ukraine's second largest city, on the 10th. According to the report, the Russian army is constantly trying to move forward, while the poorly equipped Ukrainian army is trying to consolidate the weak front.

Zerensky said that the Russian army advanced about 10 kilometers at most in Kharkov State (data map)

According to the Ukrainian state news agency, Ukrainian President Zelensky said on the 17th that the Russian army had advanced about 10 kilometers at most in Kharkov State. So far, the Ukrainian army has blocked the Russian army in its current position. Due to the lack of air defense systems in the Ukrainian army, the Russian army had been able to break through. He said that the Russian army only reached the first defense line of the Ukrainian army, but did not reach the main concrete structure defense line of Kharkov State. The first and second defense lines were built by the Ukrainian military, and the third defense line was the most powerful, which was built by the local authorities of Kharkov State. Zerensky also said that Uzbekistan should not be prohibited from using western weapons to attack targets in Russia, "because this is not the use of western weapons by Ukrainian forces to attack Russian territory, but defense".

However, according to Uzbek news agency, when visiting the Kharkov front on the 16th, Zelensky said that as of the same day, the situation in Kharkov state was "basically under control", and the Uzbek army had caused heavy losses to the Russian army, but "the situation is still extremely difficult".

According to the Tass News Agency reported on the 17th, Russian President Putin said in answering questions that the Russian army has no plan to control Kharkov at present. The responsibility for the current situation in the direction of Kharkov lies entirely with the Uzbek authorities. Uzbek troops continued to bombard residential areas in border areas such as Russia's Belgorod, causing civilian casualties. "I have publicly said that if this situation continues, we will be forced to establish a 'safe zone' and 'isolation zone'. We are doing this now."

Putin said that the Russian army has no plan to control Kharkov at present (data map)

At the same time, Russia and Ukraine both released news about the war in Kharkov on the 17th. The commander in chief of Ukraine's armed forces Sergei said on social media that because of the complex situation in eastern Ukraine, he has been carrying out military work in Kharkov State for several consecutive days. The Russian army expanded the front line of its area of operations by nearly 70 kilometers, trying to force the Ukrainian army to send more troops from the reserve. Sersky said that the front line "will have a hard fight", and the Russian army is preparing for this. At present, the Uzbek army must defend its defense lines and positions, prevent the Russian army from further advancing, and cause maximum losses to the Russian army with air strikes, missile systems, artillery and tank firepower. At the same time, it should give full play to the advantages of UAVs, and combine the use of electronic warfare and precision artillery.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on the 17th that in the past week, the Russian army controlled 12 settlements in the Kharkov area and continued to advance to the depth of the Ukrainian military defense. The Russian military used high-precision weapons and UAVs to carry out 28 joint strikes against the Ukrainian military command post, military infrastructure, air defense system, arsenal, UAV production workshop, etc. According to the news, the Russian army also controlled the Kramik settlement in Donetsk region and the Lobodine settlement in Zaporoge region.

As for the current war situation in the Kharkov region, the British Guardian analyzed that in the Kharkov region, which was previously considered as a stable area for the Ukrainian army, the Russian army has now achieved a rapid reversal, which is "the latest setback for Ukraine in 2024". Although the British intelligence department had previously warned the Ukrainian leadership that the Russian army would attack, the delay of western military aid, the shortage of Ukrainian troops and the weak defense line combined to cause the Ukrainian army to fail to achieve effective defense. According to the report, so far this year, the size of the Russian offensive force has increased to about 510000 people, and has made use of various disadvantages of the Ukrainian army to achieve breakthroughs in succession.

The Ukrainian "Strana. ua" news network believes that the Russian army has launched a week long offensive in Kharkov State since the 10th. The current war situation is similar to the process of the Russian army attacking Afjeyevka, Chasovyar and other places. The Russian army is groping for the weakness in the defense of the Ukrainian army, breaking it down and advancing constantly, and then the Ukrainian army is forced to put into reserve forces. However, at present, the Uzbek army reserve is basically invested in Kharkov State. This Russian offensive may not only be aimed at establishing a "security zone", but also at consuming the Uzbek army reserve. The Russian army may still launch similar offensives on other fronts to attract attention. When the Ukrainian army is exhausted, the Russian army may really start a large-scale "summer offensive". At present, the Russian army still has the initiative in the battlefield and has sufficient strength. As time goes by, if the Ukrainian army still fails to solve the mobilization problem, it may lead to the collapse of the whole front line. In addition, Ukrainian media reported that on the 17th local time, Zelensky signed the Criminal Mobilization Act.

The Russian "military observation network" said that this round of Russian offensive in the direction of Kharkov may contain multiple strategic objectives. In addition to pushing the border front far into Ukraine, establishing a "security zone" and preventing the Russian border area from being attacked again, the Russian army may take this opportunity to consume the Ukrainian army reserve and attract the focus, thus creating conditions for other directions to attack. The city of Kharkov may not be the ultimate goal of the Russian army, which may also be a containment attack that weakens the defense forces of the Uzbek army in the Donbas area.