If the aviation preparation for the operation is unsatisfactory for Yeremenko and Vatutin, the operation will end in failure. The experience of the war with the Germans shows that an operation against the Germans can be won only if we have air superiority. In this case our aviation must fulfill three tasks:

First, concentrate the action of our aviation in the area of the offensive of our shock units, suppress the German aviation, and firmly cover our troops.

Second, break a path for our advancing units by systematically bombing the German troops standing against them.

Third, pursue the retreating enemy troops by systematic bombing and ground-attack actions, in order to finally disrupt them and prevent them from consolidating on the nearest defensive lines.

If Novikov thinks that our aviation is not now in a position to fulfill these tasks, then it is better to postpone the operation for some time and accumulate more aviation. Talk with Novikov and Vorozheykin, explain this matter to them, and inform me of your common opinion.

(From: V. Zhukhrai, Stalin: Truth and Falsehood, pp. 143-144.)