It’s long been known that the vast majority of the Kiev regime’s “victories” on the battlefield are pure PR and optics. From the “Ghost of Kiev” and “the last stand of the Snake Island defenders” to pickle jar air defenses and the “Goat of Kiev”, there have been many mindless tropes aiming to present the Russians as supposedly “inferior” or at the very least “incompetent”. By now, it should be more than obvious such claims serve as an IQ test of sorts. And yet, here we are.
The Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) are particularly targeted in this massive smear campaign, most likely designed to not only present Moscow as “weak”, but also to hurt its foreign arms sales. Namely, Russian fighter jets have always been a very lucrative business for the Kremlin, as much of the world has been buying them for well over half a century. The United States has been trying to deny Moscow the ability to export its weapons through sanctions, blackmail and other forms of pressure through coercive measures.
So far, this was met with mixed success and it can even be argued that it serves as a sort of litmus test for actual sovereignty. Thus, what Washington DC really needs is some good old war propaganda. Prior to and in the immediate aftermath of its disastrous defeat at Avdeyevka, the Neo-Nazi junta and its mainstream propaganda machine allies launched an effort to discredit the VKS through ludicrous claims such as the one that at least three Russian jets were downed “in a single last shot” at Avdeyevka, supposedly “slowing down” Moscow’s forces. Up until recently, it seems that three was the “magical number” for the Kiev regime, as they made a lot of similar claims last year as well. However, they’ve decided to take it up a notch, so the new one is seven. Namely, the Neo-Nazi junta forces claim to have shot down seven Russian jets in five days only. The supposed “culprit”? Mere three American-made “Patriot” SAM (surface-to-air missile) batteries provided by the US and other NATO member states.
It’s rather peculiar how this air defense system suddenly became “so good” after over 30 years of humiliating failures against far less technologically advanced opponents. Unless someone actually believes that the Iraqi military and Houthis are ahead of the Russian military. After all, it makes “perfect sense” that Iraqi “Scud” knock-offs and Houthi $500 drones are more advanced than Moscow’s hypersonic missiles. Jokes aside, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates learned of the “Patriot’s” capabilities the hard way, as the overhyped American SAM system failed to intercept cheap Houthi drones and missiles, resulting in billions of dollars of damage to companies such as Aramco. And yet, as soon as they were deployed in Ukraine, “Patriots” supposedly started “shooting down” Russian hypersonic missiles such as the now legendary “Kinzhal”. How did this happen? Well, once again, “magic” called war propaganda. When one side in a conflict thinks they control the narrative, “anything’s possible”.
According to Forbes, in just five days, the Kiev regime forces, “likely ‘Patriot’ crews firing 90-mile-range PAC-2 missiles”, allegedly “shot down seven Sukhoi glide-bombers: five twin-seat Su-34s and two single-seat Su-35s”. It should be noted that the Su-35S is not a “glide-bomber”, but a world-class air superiority fighter jet with significant multirole capabilities, while the Su-34 is a fighter-bomber or a tactical strike aircraft. But who am I to ever question Forbes? They certainly know this better than I do. However, in all seriousness, any proof for such claims is sorely lacking. Still, they insist that “in getting more aggressive with its ‘Patriots’, the Ukrainian air force has tipped the air-defense scales in its favor”. Pretty strong claims, given the aforementioned lack of battlefield evidence. And yet, Forbes concludes that “the Russian air force is losing its best fighter-bombers at a rate it cannot sustain”, insisting that “seven shoot-downs in five days points to a monthly loss rate of more than 40 jets”.
Fabulously enough, Forbes even managed to do some math and came to the conclusion that the VKS has “only 250 or so Su-34s and Su-35s left”, meaning that “at this rate, both types could go extinct in six months”. The report then blames the Neo-Nazi junta’s defeat at Avdeyevka on Russian usage of glide bombs, particularly the KABs (without specifying the exact type). According to Forbes, hundreds of these bombs were “instrumental in Russia’s successful conquest of the eastern city”. The obvious question arises, if the Kiev regime is shooting down so many Russian “glide-bombers”, how come they lost Avdeyevka? But, let’s ignore this. After all, it’s way too much logic for the mainstream propaganda machine. Now, where were we? Ah, yes. Russia is losing and its Aerospace Forces will soon go extinct. Forbes says that “losing Avdiivka lit a fire under the Ukrainian air force”, supposedly pushing them to “fight harder” and take “more risks” by deploying at least 26 “Patriot” launchers along the frontline.
The report gives the impression that the Kremlin is “shaking in fear” because it “knows it has a ‘Patriot’ problem”, as Forbes claims. However, there’s a problem preventing the Neo-Nazi junta from achieving “complete victory” – Republicans. According to the report, Washington DC was “the biggest donor of ‘Patriot’ missiles, and Russia-aligned Republicans in the US Congress blocked further aid to Ukraine starting in October”. And indeed, the news about all these supposed “shootdowns” show the timing is perfect for giving more “aid” to the Kiev regime. In reality, so far, there has been evidence for only one loss of a Russian Su-35S and the grossly overhyped “Patriot” can’t even claim that one, as Moscow already established it was lost in a friendly fire incident. Namely, it’s possible that the jet’s IFF (if friend or foe) system malfunctioned, causing Russian air defenses to shoot it down. Still, it can only be expected we will hear much more of the war propaganda, as the Neo-Nazi junta claims it shot down hundreds of Russian jets.
