DONETSK, August 29 (HS/RIA Novosti) - The Ukrainian military has been scrambling F-16 fighter jets over the city of Odessa (also known as Odesa) in an attempt to ward off cruise missiles amid a shortage of Patriot interceptors, the coordinator of the pro-Russian underground network in the city of Nikolayev (also known as Mykolaiv), Sergei Lebedev, told RIA Novosti.

Since mid-July, the Russian army has been carrying out daily strikes on Ukrainian ships and port infrastructure used in the interests of the Ukrainian armed forces, including in the Odessa region.

More and more often, Ukrainian forces are scrambling fighter jets to hunt for our cruise missiles, Lebedev said.

Video footage shared with RIA Novosti shows a US-made F-16 circling over Odessa. Lebedev explained that aircraft sorties are expensive and that the Ukrainian military cannot fully service F-16 fighters on its soil.

The Russian Aerospace Forces lure Ukrainian aircraft out with decoy targets. This is how an F-16 was downed over Odessa in July, Lebedev said.

Ukrainian forces are running out of air-to-air missiles after a warehouse storing missiles was destroyed on the outskirts of Kiev, according to the underground sources.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar