According to the Ukrainian media, just when Russia announced the entire territory of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, the Ukrainian army launched a large-scale raid on the Kherson airport occupied by the Russian army, and a random bombing caused heavy losses to Russian helicopters, according to the Ukrainian military's war report, more than 30 Russian helicopters were destroyed at the airport.
During the Battle of Kherson, russian troops successfully defeated the Ukrainian defenders in the area and occupied Kherson International Airport and began to use it as an air base, followed by a further Russian occupation of the entire city of Kherson. It is reported that when the Russian army occupied Kherson International Airport, it also captured a large number of Ukrainian military helicopters, and the Russian Air Force subsequently used the airport as a helicopter base, dozens of transport helicopters and helicopter gunships from the Air Force were deployed at the airport, and in real time to provide supplies and air support for the troops on the front line, especially the gunships on the airport, causing great casualties to the Ukrainian army.
In response to the current situation of the Russian occupation of Kherson, the Ukrainian army has begun to plan a counter-offensive military operation against Kherson, according to the report of the citizens of Nikolayev in the neighboring area of Kherson, he found that in recent days, Ukrainian troops are deploying a large number of troops and heavy equipment to Kherson through Nikolayev. And in order to cover up the movement, the Ukrainian army turned off all the lights in the city of Nikolaev, and a counter-offensive was in preparation.
In response to the Base of Kherson International Airport controlled by the Russian Air Force, the Ukrainian Army launched artillery raids for two consecutive days from March 8 and March 15, causing serious damage to Russian helicopters on the airport. On March 8, the Ukrainian army began the first round of fire coverage against the Russian airfield, and on the same day, the Ukrainian army war report claimed to destroy more than 30 Russian helicopters, but the Ukrainian army did not come up with convincing evidence, so many people doubted it.
However, on March 15, the attack on the airport, there are satellite photos and Russian military airfield video as evidence, the Ukrainian army used multiple rockets to successfully cover the airfield on the same day, causing serious damage to the Russian helicopters on the tarmac and the abandoned helicopters of the Ukrainian army. It is said that the Ukrainian army used several 122mm hail self-propelled rockets and fired hundreds of 122mm high-power rockets, which are so powerful that it is not too easy to hit the iron target of helicopters.
According to the photos taken by the US commercial satellite on March 16 at the airport, and the airport video taken by the Russian army, it can be seen that the helicopter near the terminal building is seriously damaged, several helicopters have caught fire and burned, and although the helicopter next to it has no obvious damage traces, according to the analysis of the close-range crater, these aircraft have at least been hit by rocket fragments, and it is impossible to fly in the short term. In addition, Ukrainian artillery fire will also destroy most of the Helicopters that Ukraine previously stayed at the airport, according to statistics, the wreckage of more than 20 Russian and Ukrainian helicopters destroyed on the airport is burning, Russian media said that 6-7 of them belong to the Russian Air and Space Force, the rest are all captured Ukrainian military aircraft, as well as infantry fighting vehicles and trucks at the airport were damaged.
On the question of why the Rockets of the Ukrainian Army can strike so accurately, some experts believe that this airport is Ukraine's own after all, like some relevant coordinate parameters that people have long known. Moreover, NATO's early warning aircraft reconnaissance aircraft and satellites are also providing battlefield perception intelligence support for the Ukrainian military, overtly or covertly, and with the blessing of advanced equipment and target information, even the old-fashioned self-propelled rocket artillery such as hail can play a huge role on the battlefield.
However, this battle also shows that the Russian Air and Space Force is negligent, after all, on March 8, Ukraine has launched a long-range strike operation against the airport, and it is reasonable to provide protection measures for helicopters at the airport, and even take evacuation operations to avoid the destruction of the aircraft. However, the Russian Air force obviously did not do this, which led to the subsequent Secondary Repair of the Ukrainian Army to cause serious losses to the Russian helicopters. And this is not the first time, the Russian army has been beaten by ISIS in the same situation at the Syrian T4 airport, and it seems that no lesson has been learned at all. Although the Russian army has steadily advanced and the Ukrainian army has retreated step by step, the heavy losses of weapons and personnel of the Russian army are surprising, and the losses caused by this military operation can exceed the combat losses of the Russian army in the previous decade.
Of course, the problems and lessons exposed by the Russian military in this war are also worth summing up.