Nikolai Gogol was Ukrainian and in addition one of the vital outstanding names in Russian literature. A supply of pleasure for Russian cultural identification, Gogol wrote one in all his most celebrated collections of brief tales, Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, in 1831 from the imperial capital, St. Petersburg. The textual content options fantastical characters from this rural area of Poltava province in jap Ukraine. The author explored the forces of fine and evil within the folklore of his homeland — demons that descended from the sky to torment people, very similar to the Russian bomb that fell within the area on October 20.
The information brought about a stir within the province, far faraway from the entrance traces. Long-range drones and missiles are commonplace in Poltava, however not an aerial bomb. Guided aerial bombs (KABs, of their Ukrainian acronym) are weapons that Russian fighter-bombers launch at excessive altitudes and that glide to their goal. Until now, KABs had a spread of not more than 50 kilometers (31 miles), focusing within the first part of the battle (2022-2023) on concentrating on the Ukrainian entrance line and, later (from 2024 onward), the logistical facilities within the rapid rear.
With technological enhancements, KABs had been capable of cowl 70 to 90 kilometers (43-56 miles), however the bomb that fell within the Dikanka area traveled greater than 100 kilometers (62 miles), in keeping with estimates by the Ukrainian military. This was not an remoted incident: in October, a number of comparable KAB assaults had been reported for the primary time: in Lozova, Kharkiv province, the bomb traveled 130 kilometers (80 miles); in Odesa province, within the south, 100 kilometers. Mykolaiv, additionally within the south, and Dnipro and Krivi Rih, within the east, had been different targets removed from the combating that KABs reached for the primary time.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s intelligence companies (GUR) reported on October 20 that the enemy had begun mass manufacturing of the brand new UMPK modules, techniques which are integrated into the Grom-1 and Grom-2 bombs, enabling them to journey 200 kilometers (125 miles). The KAB expertise transforms a standard bomb by including wings, a small jet engine, and a steering system.
Increasing the vary of this weaponry retains Russian plane in a safer operational zone relative to Ukrainian anti-aircraft missiles. And economically, it’s a transparent benefit, in keeping with the Ukrainian protection evaluation web site Militarnyi, as a result of the Russian arsenal of air-launched bombs is way bigger than its missile arsenal, and the associated fee is way decrease: whereas producing a KAB with the UMPK system can price $250,000, a cruise missile prices as much as $1 million.
Russia’s use of guided aerial bombs has elevated exponentially, in keeping with a tally launched on October 19 by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy: in a single week in October, Russian plane fired 1,370 KAB bombs. The month-to-month common in 2024 was between 200 and 300.
“The Russians have struck gold” with the long-range KABs, claimed an article within the Ukrainian newspaper Strana on October 24: “They carry two or thrice extra explosive than Shahed drones, fly at larger speeds, maneuver much less predictably due to the UMPK, and are smaller than a missile, making them more durable to shoot down.”
“The KAB with the long-range UMPK module is a big headache for air defenses,” one other portal specializing in army evaluation, The War Zone, emphasised on October 23. “They are extraordinarily tough to shoot down as a result of they’re small, comparatively quick [flying at a speed of between 250 and 310 miles per hour] and don’t depart a thermal signature.”
On October 29, a army car parked exterior a grocery retailer in Miloradove, a village close to Dikanka. Inside, a sergeant-major named Vadim was about to do some buying. This soldier confirmed {that a} KAB had fallen within the area however didn’t know the precise location. According to official military reviews, the bomb was most likely aimed on the metropolis of Poltava, 12 miles additional south, however missed its goal. “It’s a giant drawback as a result of there’s no option to intercept KABs,” Vadim said. In the assault on the Odesa area, the Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have shot one down. “I don’t know, I’ve by no means seen our anti-aircraft weapons have time to intercept them,” the sergeant-major added.
Fear in Kyiv
The predominant downside of those bombs is their low accuracy, which implies that, when fired at targets in city areas, they’ll trigger critical hurt to the civilian inhabitants, as Zelenskiy has said. The Ukrainian authorities concern that these new Russian bombs may attain Kyiv. The capital is positioned about 125 miles from the Russian border.
“The entrance has remained largely unchanged for a very long time, and Vladimir Putin needs to win at any price, and a technique to take action is by intensifying terror among the many inhabitants,” says Oleksi Melnik, co-director of the Razumkov Center for Political and Defense Studies. “By destroying vitality infrastructure and finishing up long-range bombing, the Russians intend to destabilize Ukrainian society.”
Serhii is a younger ex-soldier, discharged in the course of the battle as a result of his brother died in fight and, as an solely youngster, he’s entitled to go away the service. Today, Serhii runs a mechanic’s workshop in Poltava, the area EL PAÍS visited, and recounts his expertise with KABs. “In battle, new weapons all the time seem, after which new methods to counter them; the identical will occur with these bombs,” he says.
With a wrench in his hand, Serhii provides EL PAÍS instructions to seek out the precise spot the place the bomb fell. On a forest path, a shepherdess main a stray cow affords additional instructions, and additional on, an aged girl on a bicycle guides the journalist to a cluster of farms the place she supposedly heard a metallic clang. Each character encountered alongside the best way may encourage one other Gogol story, narratives through which it’s tough to tell apart actuality from dream. What is definite is that the Poltava KAB existed: its stays are presently being analyzed in Kyiv, on the Institute of Armament and Military Technology of the Armed Forces.
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