The country’s air force claims it has shot down both a Russian Su-24 fighter-bomber and a Su-35S fighter, meaning the Kremlin has lost at least six war planes in the last three days – costing Putin hundreds of millions of dollars.
One Su-35 plane is believed to have fallen in the Azov Sea near Mariupol, and footage appears to show a Russian search underway off the coast. Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Ukrainian air force, said: ‘Eastern axis. Another minus two aircraft of the occupier!
‘This is our land, and our sky! Thank you all for the combat work! There will be more…don’t hang around!’ Oleshchuk said that Russian rescuers had ‘reported that the Su-35 pilot was drifting “face down into the water” in the Azov Sea’
A Russian war channel, ColonelCassad, admitted the loss today of a Kremlin Su-35 – but claimed it had been downed by friendly fire. This wouldn’t be the first time a Russian plane had been downed by friendly fire, as throughout the war Putin’s forces have hit their own planes with air defence missiles.
The outlet posted: ‘Can we please not shoot at our own planes. Today we lost one more plane to friendly fire. ‘Today we have indeed lost a Su-35 plane, the pilot was killed. The plane was shot down near Mariupol. The Su-35….wasn’t downed because of the Ukrainians.
Oleshchuk claims Russia lost an Su-34 and Su-35 on Saturday, and an Su-34 on Sunday, before the two latest planes today. Some Ukrainian reports say a third plane was downed on Saturday. Officially Russia has not accounted for the planes, but war bloggers have disputed the Ukrainian tally.
Ukrainian forces shot down two Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers and one Su-35 fighter in the skies over eastern Ukraine on Saturday, the country’s air force chief said. The claims have not been independently verified, but if true would represent a loss to Moscow of advanced warplanes worth in excess of $130 million in total.
© 2024, GDC. © GDC and www.globaldefensecorp.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.globaldefensecorp.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.