Russian drone, hypersonic missile strikes escalate on Ukrainian air base ahead of arrival of F-16s

• The small western Ukrainian city of Starokostyantynykh is facing increased Russian military attacks due to the expected arrival of F-16 fighter jets.
• The latest attack took place on June 27, according to authorities.
• Frequent attacks, including those using drones and hypersonic missiles, are a harsh reality for Starokostiantiniv’s 30,000 residents.

Explosions rang out into the pre-dawn sky as Ukrainian air defenses fended off Russian attacks on the small city in western Ukraine, which is home to an important airbase and a frequent target of Moscow’s attacks.

A few hours after the attack, Starokostyantynykh’s orderly streets appeared to have returned to normal.

But the June 27 attack was a stark reminder of the challenges Kiev faces as it rebuilds its battered air force and deploys for the first time U.S.-designed F-16 fighter jets that Russia is determined to keep on the ground or destroy.

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The first aircraft are due to arrive this month, and Ukraine hopes they will bolster forces struggling to repel an onslaught of Russian forces on the front lines, including devastating glide bombs that the F-16s could thwart.

Officials have not said where the F-16 fighter jets are based, but Moscow said after last Thursday’s Starokosty Antinykh attack that it had targeted an airfield where it believes the jets are based.

The air base has come under frequent attack, including from drones and hypersonic missiles, since the first day of the Russian invasion in February 2022.

Located in Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi Region, this historic military outpost nicknamed Starcon is home to about 30,000 people, who have learned to adapt to the constant danger.

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“In a word, it’s fun to live here,” Vassil Muria, a city official and expert on local culture, said with a wry smile after the recent attack.

A Ukrainian air force spokesman said the attack posed “certain difficulties” but would not prevent the F-16s from being deployed or used in combat.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said on Tuesday it had shot down five Ukrainian SU-27 fighter jets at the Mirhorod airfield in the Poltava region, a claim that Ukraine has called an exaggeration.

Military analysts said the Russians were likely targeting airbase infrastructure such as runways and storage facilities to make it difficult for the F-16s to take off, and would likely target the Western jets themselves when they arrive.

Justin Bronk of the Royal Institute for Integrated Security Studies said Ukrainian forces, running out of air defence munitions, would likely be forced to move valuable aircraft closer to airfields.

“If Russia is careful enough to launch enough missiles at one target, it could saturate ground-based air defenses,” he said.

Remains of a cherry tree

After last Thursday’s attack, Governor Serhiy Tyurin said air defense forces had destroyed nine targets in the air over the region, after the air force had warned residents that drones were heading towards Starokostyantinykh.

Locals, careful not to reveal any information considered military sensitive, described living under constant threat of attack and with Ukrainian warplanes frequently roaring overhead.

Irina Sobchuk, editor-in-chief of local newspaper Our City, said her parents’ house had also been hit in the latest attack, with damage to the roof and a shed.

“Missile fragments were found in the cherry tree by our window,” she added.

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As in many other towns and cities across Ukraine, people appeared eager to demonstrate their resilience, despite the risks of war and the inconvenience of frequent power outages caused by Russian attacks on the energy system.

Roadworks continued as jet planes buzzed overhead and groups of families and teenagers cooled off at local beaches.

Sobchuk said he found it difficult to avoid airplane noise when traveling around Ukraine.

“It’s too quiet for me,” she joked, adding that the sound was a reassuring sign that the Ukrainian pilots were outnumbered.

Murial, the local official, noted that the city had a history as a defensive stronghold in the 16th century and, hundreds of years later, an important centre for independence fighters in the fledgling Ukrainian People’s Republic after World War I.

“This has always been a center of resistance.”