Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has issued an urgent appeal to the West, asking for support in dealing with the escalation of Russian glide bomb attacks. “This week alone, Russia has used more than 800 aerial bombs driven against Ukraine. Against our cities and communities, against our people, against everything that makes life normal,” Zelensky wrote on X. The president stressed the need to provide Ukraine with the means to destroy the vehicles carrying these bombs, starting with Russian fighter jets. “Ukraine needs the means to destroy the carriers of these bombs, including Russian fighter planes, wherever they are located.. This step is essential,” she said. A reference, therefore, to all those bans that prevent Kiev from hitting Moscow’s armed forces directly on Russian soil, where most of the attacks come from.
The devastating impact of glide bombs
Glide bombs are Soviet-era aviation weapons, upgraded with precision guidance systems. These bombs, which can carry up to 1.5 tons of explosives, are dropped from aircraft flying out of range of Kiev’s air defenses, posing a significant threat to Ukrainian cities and communities. In recent days, one of these bombs hit the city of Kharkiv, killing one person and injuring an eight-month-old baby, while missile fragments damaged an apartment building in Kiev. President Zelensky’s appeal came after a Russian missile attack in Vilniansk killed seven people and injured at least 38.
The Call for Western Military Support (Long Range)
Although Ukraine has already received long-range precision weapons from its Western allies, such as Storm Shadow missiles from the United Kingdom, Scalp missiles from France and ATACMS missiles from the United States, Zelensky reiterated the need for further support. «Long-range strikes and modern air defense are the basis for stopping daily Russian terror“, he said, thanking international partners who understand this need. «First the world will help us deal with the Russian warplanes dropping these bombsthe sooner we can attack, legitimately attack, Russian military infrastructure, Russian air bases, the closer we will be to peaceto true peace”, the president said.
Russian Glide Bomb Technology
Russian glide bombs are adaptations of older Soviet bombs with imported electronics that allow bombers to launch them from a safe distance. Russia has almost unlimited supplies of these weapons, which are launched from airfields just across the border, beyond the reach of Ukrainian air defenses. According to Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Russia has dropped nearly 10,000 guided bombs on Ukraine since early 2024. Among the most dangerous glide bombs is the FAB-1500, which includes 675 kilograms of explosives and can be launched from a distance of between 40 and 70 kilometers from the target, with a destruction radius of 200 meters. These weapons have been retrofitted with “smart fins” and can be guided with satellite or laser systems to improve their accuracy. A Ukrainian soldier described the effect of these bombs as “hellish”, underlining the strong moral impact on the troops.
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