Ukrainian aircraft have been moved back from a state of high combat preparedness, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Dmytro Strutynsky has said.
“The state of combat preparedness that was declared today has already been lifted,” Hromadske.TV quoted him as saying.
According to Strutynsky, combat aircraft remain on permanent duty.
“Today, the forces and means were put on alert and were ready to repel (an attack by Russian aircraft) and hit air targets, but only if they crossed the state air border of our country or there was a direct threat to integrity and inviolability of the state,” he said.
As reported, on March 22, the forces and means of the Ukrainian Air Force recorded provocative actions by the air component of the Russian Air Force for the second time in March this year.
“The fighter and bomber aircraft of the aggressor country carried out flights from the airfields of Shaykovka, Krymsk and Belbek, with their maximum approach to the state border of Ukraine, the line of contact between the mainland Ukraine and Crimea, as well as approaching, at a distance of up to 40 kilometers, the shoreline from the Black Sea and further flying along the coast of Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. In addition, a group of fully armed Tu-22 long-range strategic bombers and missile carriers, accompanied by a pair of Su-30 fighters of the Russian Federation performed a flight in the airspace of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the Azov and Black Seas,” the Air Force command reported.
