Honored military pilot of Russia, Major General Vladimir Popov, believes that the Ukrainian army is hiding its remaining Su-27 fighter jets in reinforced concrete shelters at several airfields. He argues that these aircraft are dispersed across facilities in the Lvov, Ivano-Frankovsk and Zakarpatye regions, as well as in the area of Starokonstantinov.

Popov said he is familiar with these airfields and described the shelters as reinforced concrete structures with heavy gates, covered by several meters of earth on top and up to 8–10 meters along the sides. He noted that, in his estimation, such protection would require more than a single missile strike to be breached.

At the same time, Popov allowed that the gates of these shelters could, in theory, be blocked. However, he stressed that once the blockage is removed, the opposing side would still be able to roll out any surviving aircraft, which in the worst case would only be damaged by shrapnel.

Earlier, military channels reported that some Russian Geran-type drones have begun to be equipped with short-range R-60 air-to-air missiles. Analysts do not rule out that one of these unmanned systems may have been involved in the destruction of a Su-27.

If this information is confirmed, Popov’s assessment suggests that the situation for Ukrainian aviation will become extremely difficult, since it is Ukrainian fighter jets that currently shoot down most incoming targets during air raids.