 Russian fighters can lob 250 glide bombs and demolish Ukrainian defences, one weapon, can stop them. Hamstrung by poor training, crude weaponry and a culture of centralized control, the Russian Air Force struggled to support Russian ground troops in the first two years of Russia's wider war on Ukraine, according to Forbes. But in recent weeks in the sky over Abdeevka, that changed. Lobbying satellite guided glide bombs from 25 miles away, Russian pilots hammered Abdeevka in the weeks before a dozen Russian brigades and regiments finally after four months of costly assaults forced the Ukrainian 110th Mechanized Brigade to retreat west out of the ruins of the nearly lifeless city. Now that the Russians finally figured out how to support their ground troops from the air, expect them to repeat the tactic in other sectors of the 600 mile front line. Forbes said that the cab glide bomb quickly became one of Russia's most fearsome weapons at the peak of the aerial campaign this weekend. Sukhoi's lobbed a staggering 250 cabs in 48 hours. Soon the 110th Brigade had nowhere left to hide in Abdeevka's ruins. The depleted brigade fled west this weekend, surrendering the smoldering city to the similarly depleted but more numerous Russian regiments and brigades. It was probably the first time in two years that Russian air power had played a decisive role in Russian ground operations. But it wasn't inevitable. The Ukrainians clearly have the means of shooting down glide bombers and preventing another devastating cab bombardment. What they lack is capacity. The United States was the biggest supplier of Patriot missiles to Ukraine. Now Ukraine's stock of 90 mile range Patriots is dropping to a critical level, according to Anton Gerashchenko, a former advisor to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry. It's possible the arrival in the coming weeks or months of the first of Ukraine's new ex-European F-16 fighters will help to compensate for the dwindling Patriots. Patriots are Ukraine's best defence against Russia's cabs. And in the absence of Patriots, the Russians no doubt will attempt to duplicate their successful bombardment of Abdeevka.