Journalists highlighted that the strike was likely carried
out by a Soviet-made Su-27 aircraft, not one of the recently delivered
American-made Lockheed Martin F-16s to Ukraine.
There is speculation that the Ukrainian Armed Forces plan to
use the F-16s for air defense patrols rather than riskier attacks on Russian
military targets, at least in the initial stages.
Despite active Ukrainian drone attacks and missile strikes
on Russian air bases in Kursk and the oblast, Russian forces still have more
aircraft and bombs, Forbes notes. Additionally, the delivery of the promised 85
F-16s from Western allies to Ukraine has been slow.
Around the same time that the Su-27 bombed Russian positions
in Kursk Oblast, other Ukrainian aircraft bombed occupiers in Kharkiv Oblast, approximately 160 kilometers east of the Kursk salient, according to
the Center for Defense Strategies (CDS).
Notably, despite the severe shortage of aircraft, bombs, and
other heavy weaponry, Ukraine's invasion of Russia shows no signs of slowing
down, Forbes reports.