Military spokesperson: Russia changes attack tactics in Ukraine’s south

Russian forces are changing the attack tactics in Ukraine’s southern regions, Ukraine's Southern Command spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk said on April 2 on the national television, as quoted by UNN, a Ukrainian news agency.

According to Humeniuk, Russia started using its Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets to strike civilian areas in Kherson Oblast, instead of shelling them from the ground positions that are targeted by Ukrainian forces.

Humeniuk said that Russian jets approach the area just close enough to stay out of the reach of Ukraine's air defense, and shoot guided aerial bombs at the government-controlled parts of Kherson Oblast.  

According to Humeniuk, Russians were forced to switch to airborne attacks in the area because Ukrainian forces have been successfully targeting Russian firing positions in the 30-kilometer strip on the Russian-held eastern bank of Dnipro in Kherson Oblast.

Kherson oblast and its capital city remain under daily fire after Ukrainian troops pushed Russians out of the city in early November.

Just in the last 24 hours, Russian forces attacked southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblast with S-300 missile systems, Iskander ballistic missiles, heavy 300 mm Smerch multiple rocket launchers, other artillery systems, mortars, tanks, and fighter jets in the last 24 hours.

Ukrainian air defense is shooting down 80% of Russian missiles, Lieutenant General Serhii Naiev, commander of the Ukrainian Joint Forces said on March 1.