British intelligence has said that recent attacks by Ukrainian forces have led to a general deterioration in Russia's ability to defend the airspace around Crimea.
Russian air defence is becoming weaker and weaker
The UK Ministry of Defence pointed out that on 14 May, Ukrainian Armed Forces fighter jets carried out powerful strikes on Russian military targets, destroying elements of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile battery at the Crimean Belbek airfield, including radar and launchers.
Moreover, it is known that at least two MiG-31BM aircraft were destroyed on the ground.
According to British intelligence, this is the fourth time in recent years that Russian air defences in Crimea have suffered losses.
It is also impossible to ignore the fact that recently the soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out successful actions against the radar station "Ai-Petri", as well as the airfield "Dzhankoi".
Russia has fewer and fewer opportunities to defend Crimea
The combined effect of these strikes has led to a general deterioration in Russia's ability to defend the airspace around Crimea, while demonstrating Ukraine's ability to influence Russian air defence operations, according to a report by the UK Ministry of Defence.
It is quite possible that this will push the aggressor country, the Russian Federation, to force the dispersal of its aviation or risk losing more aircraft, as well as to redeploy air defence assets from other locations.
British intelligence also notes that the reduced coverage of A-50s and their dispersal from Crimean airfields is likely to lead to an increase in the number of flight hours and frequency of fighter jet sorties to fill the gaps in coverage, leading to more maintenance problems for their aircraft.
