Russians launch reconnaissance balloons, situation under control of Ukrainian Air Defence Forces

On 14 February, Russian reconnaissance balloons with angled reflectors appeared in the Ukrainian airspace.  

Source: Yurii Ihnat, spokesman of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda 

Quote: "Probably, these are balloons with corner reflectors, which we talked about recently [on 12 February, such objects were recorded in the sky over Dnipropetrovsk Oblast – ed.] The Ukrainian Air Defense uses radars to observe these air targets moving in air streams at a low speed.

Fighter aircraft are constantly on duty in the Ukrainian sky. The situation is under control."

Details: Responding to a question whether such aerial objects could have caused the closure of the airspace over Moldova, Ihnat noted that he does not have the relevant data, but said that such balloons could theoretically fly into the space of neighbouring foreign countries, as they change direction depending on the strength and direction of the wind.

These balloons can be of different sizes (one to one and a half metres in diameter), but sufficient to lift the corner reflector.

Russia uses such flying objects to conduct reconnaissance, or to distract our air defence as a false target, the spokesman of the Air Force explained.

Radar reflectors on them are a means of increasing visibility.

Background: Earlier on Tuesday, 14 February, the Moldovan mass media reported on the closure of the country's airspace for security reasons.

Unconfirmed reports appeared on the social media about the movement of UAVs of an unknown type or balloons with corner reflectors in the direction of Moldova in the airspace of Ukraine.

After several hours of closure, Moldova reopened its airspace, but the reasons for the pause currently are not officially disclosed.

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