Ukraine claims to have shot down 3 Russian fighter jets

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and military officials said the country’s forces shot down three Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber aircraft on Friday in the south of the country.

They hailed the incident as a success in the 22-month-old war.

Three Su-34 fighter bombers were shot down over Kherson region, the Ukrainian air force announced.

President Volodymr Zelensky thanked the servicemen who had downed the planes, saying the incident had occurred in war-torn Kherson Region.

Moscow has not commented on the claims, but influential Russian bloggers have reported losses.

In his nightly address on Friday, Mr Zelensky said the downing of the planes would make Russian pilots attacking targets in Ukraine aware that “none of them [would] go unpunished”.

He also said he had spoken to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte about the future delivery of F-16 jets, as well as a new EU support package.

Russia has not commented on the reported loss of its jets, but Fighterbomber, an influential Russian war blogger, reported the loss of an unspecified number of planes, saying they had probably been downed by US-made Patriot missiles.

Both surviving and dead crew members were recovered, the blogger added.
Ukraine is facing an ammunition shortage as it continues to fight occupying Russian forces, following Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

(with inputs from agencies)