Russia claims downing 2 Ukrainian fighter jets

MOSCOW

The Russian air defense systems downed Ukraine's two fighter jets last night, the country's Defense Ministry said on Friday.

One Su-25 and one MiG-29, as well as four ballistic missiles Tochka-U and 13 unmanned aerial vehicles, were shot down last night, the ministry's spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a press briefing in Moscow.

Meanwhile, the aerospace forces destroyed a large ammunition depot, a missile system Tochka-U and 10 strongholds of the Ukrainian army with high-precision missiles, the spokesman added.

The aviation hit 24 objects in Ukraine's military infrastructure, including 18 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment, an artillery battery in firing positions, as well as two warehouses of rocket and artillery weapons, he said.

The Strategic Rocket Forces destroyed a launcher of an S-300 air defense system as well as five areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment, while the artillery struck six command posts, three ammunition depots, 187 strong points, areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment, as well as 26 Ukrainian artillery batteries, he noted.

“In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 151 aircraft, 112 helicopters, 742 unmanned aerial vehicles, 290 anti-aircraft missile systems, 2,854 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 329 multiple rocket launchers, 1,338 field artillery and mortar guns, as well as 2,683 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed,” he said.

Over 5.7 million people have fled Ukraine, according to the UN estimates, while 3,280 civilians have been killed and 3,451 injured since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war on Feb. 24, but the “actual figures are considerably higher.”