russian air force these days is just airdropping free loot for ukrainian air defense, batteries included. every time moscow tries to flex, the only thing they manage to hit is their own aircraft inventory. second army of the world? more like secondhand army of the week.
warplanes on the endangered species list
remember when su-34s were supposed to be scary? now theyre rarer than a lada with all four hubcaps. russia keeps sending pilots on one-way sightseeing tours over ukraine, like a guy who cant stop touching a hot stove and acting surprised he gets burned. maybe, just maybe, flying 1980s junk into 2024 air defenses is not the move.
the only thing dropping faster than the ruble is the number of jets making it home. at this point, the russian air force is basically a subscription box for ukrainian gunners. new targets delivered fresh every week, no assembly required.
cope harder, kremlin tv
state tv will tell you every downed jet is “part of the plan,” or it “ran out of fuel and landed in a field,” or my personal favorite, “it was a decoy.” sure, bro. thats why your pilots are ejecting faster than oligarchs buying maltese passports. theyll show a blurry video of a burning wreck and call it “ukrainian propaganda,” then two days later quietly announce a “tragic training accident.”
the only thing more tragic is how the kremlin lies with a straight face while the whole world watches the footage in 4k. even the z bloggers are starting to sound like theyre reading from a script written by a guy whos never seen a map. “kyiv is under constant fire!” yeah, and so is your air force, except kyivs still standing and your jets are not.
you cant propaganda your way out of physics, or out of a war you started and cant finish.
vintage tech, vintage results
lets talk “advanced” russian tech. half these planes are older than the pilots flying them, the other half “modernized” with the same love as a soviet apartment block. slap some new paint on it and hope nobody notices the mold. su-34s and su-35s are supposed to be the pride of the fleet, but lately theyre just expensive lawn ornaments for ukrainian farmers.
the most effective russian air asset is still the weather balloon. every new western air defense system is another “game over” screen for some unlucky russian pilot. and the kremlins answer? more threats, more bluster, more “next time we’ll really show you.” meanwhile, the only thing theyre showing is how to turn a billion-dollar air force into a scrapyard in real time.
pilots: not included
heres the real kicker: its not just the planes, its the pilots. russia cant build new jets fast enough, but they really cant replace the guys flying them. training a combat pilot takes years, and you cant just pull some conscript off tiktok and tell him to go dogfight a patriot battery.
every time ukraine bags another jet, thats not just a hole in the inventory, its a hole in the entire russian military pipeline. every pilot shot down is another family getting a knock on the door, another name added to a list the kremlin pretends doesnt exist. for what? so putin can play warlord on tv while the country falls apart behind him?
tactics: throw shit, hope it sticks
the new russian strategy is “throw everything at kyiv and hope something sticks.” four days straight of non-stop attacks, drones buzzing 24/7, missiles when they can spare them. theyre even getting creative, using belarusian sim cards in their drones for better comms. lukashenko tried to play whack-a-mole with the relay towers, but the drones still get their signal. its like watching two drunks fight over the aux cord at a house party, nobody wins, the neighbors just suffer.
all this effort, all these resources, and what do they get? a few broken windows, some civilian infrastructure hit, and a pile of smoldering drone parts. meanwhile, every time they send a jet, theres a decent chance its not coming back. ukraines air defenses arent just holding, theyre farming xp at this point.
economics of burning money
every jet lost is millions down the drain, and russia is not exactly rolling in spare parts. sanctions mean theyre cannibalizing old planes to keep the rest flying, and “import substitution” is just a fancy way of saying “hope it doesnt fall apart mid-flight.” the defense budget is a black hole, and the only thing coming out the other side is more excuses.
meanwhile, the oligarchs are busy buying up real estate in dubai and telling everyone how patriotic they are from a safe distance. the regime robs its own people blind, sends their kids to die in planes that should be in a museum, and calls it “defending the motherland.” all while the rest of the world watches the circus and wonders how many more jets theyll burn before someone in moscow finally sobers up.
endgame: scrapyard chic
so whats the endgame? russia keeps losing planes, keeps losing pilots, keeps losing face. the propaganda keeps spinning, the regime keeps threatening, and ukraine keeps shooting back. the only thing actually advancing is the graveyard shift at the sukhoi factory.
at this rate, the russian air force is going to run out of planes before they run out of excuses. and when that happens, all the bluster in the world wont put humpty dumpty back together again.
bottom line: you cant bomb your way to victory when your air force is getting farmed like its a steam sale. every time another russian jet goes down in flames, its just one more reminder that you cant cope your way out of a war you started and cant finish. keep sending those planes, kremlin. ukraines got plenty of room on the scoreboard.
russian air force is the only air delivery service where the package always arrives in pieces.
