Many videos and photos show that many Russian military vehicles are painted with a white Z on their bodies to distinguish them
After Russian President Putin launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, social networks and media were flooded with images of war. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, in addition to air strikes and missile strikes, a number of Russian ground forces have entered Ukraine from the direction of Crimea.
Russian tanks and armored vehicles appear to have faced fierce resistance. In the town of Glukhov, in northeastern Ukraine, near the Russian border, several T-72 tanks were destroyed by US-supplied Javenlin missiles, according to a Ukrainian government statement. However, Ukrainian officials did not provide further evidence of what happened. Many videos and photos show that many Russian military vehicles are painted with a white Z on their bodies to distinguish them, because Ukrainian tanks from the Soviet era are easy to confuse with Russian tanks.
During this military campaign, Russia deployed a series of aircraft capable of launching air-to-ground missiles, cluster bombs or fragmentation bombs. According to a senior US Department of Defense official on February 24, the initial assessment of the US side shows that Russia has deployed about 75 fixed-wing bombers to carry out the first air strikes over Ukraine, mainly to weaken Ukraine’s air defenses, destroy ammunition depots and airfields.
The Ukrainian military said that nearly 20 attack and transport helicopters attacked Hostomel airport outside the capital Kiev. Videos shared on social media also show that at least 20 helicopters including Mi-8 and Ka-52 attacked an airport near Kiev. The Ukrainian side said that Russian forces mainly targeted critical infrastructure, including a thermal power plant near Kiev.
Artillery is one of the key forces of the Russian military, including short-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and high-powered artillery to shoot down targets. So far, Russia has used mainly short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, a US defense official said. Russia also appears to have used cruise missiles, surface-to-air missiles and sea-launched missiles.
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Russia carried out the opening attack with 30 3M14 Kalibr ground-attack cruise missiles. This is the weapon that Moscow used in the military campaign in Syria and now it has become one of the most important weapons in the arsenal of the Russian military. The Russian 3M14 has a range of 2,500 km and carries a 400 kg warhead, capable of hitting any target in Ukraine if launched from the Black Sea.
Next is the Kh-31P missile – a supersonic anti-radiation missile. It is not clear if Russia has used this missile in combat before, but some sources say that the Kh-31P was used in the early stages of the campaign against Ukraine, capable of eliminating radar sites. Many videos and photos on social media show the wreckage of this missile in Kiev.
Iskander-M missiles were also likely used in the attack. The 9K720 Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile, known in the West as the SS-26 Stone, is among the weapons systems Russia has deployed around Ukraine in recent weeks. This missile has a range of nearly 500km, can carry both conventional warheads and nuclear warheads. It is very effective in destroying the enemy’s fixed military structures.
Evidence from the latest fighting also shows that Russia used Tochka missiles equipped with 9N123K warheads. The Tochka, developed during the Cold War, is a mobile short-range ballistic missile designed for battlefield deployment to replace the earlier Luna-M series of unguided artillery rockets. It can carry a variety of warheads weighing about 500 kg. The missile has a range of about 121km.
