In a series of significant blows to Russian forces' aircraft over the past three days, the Ukrainian Air Force took down two more fighter bombers, the SU-34 and SU-35, on Monday morning.
Confirming the success of the operation, Lieutenant General Nikolai Oleshchuk, commander of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said: "The eastern direction. Another two down: the Su-34 fighter-bomber and the Su-35S fighter! This is our land, and our sky! Thank you all for your hard work! To be continued!" Oleshchuk said.
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The planes had targeted Ukraine's troops' positions with guided bombs earlier in the day.
In an exclusive comment to the Kyiv Post, the adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andryushchenko, confirmed the aircraft crashes and reported the currently known details.
"Our people heard two explosions in the city, with the epicenter in the Primorsky district, at approximately 9:16 a.m. by Kyiv time. And (one of) the burning plane(s) began to fall in the area of the village of Rybatske," he said.
Andryushchenko said there could be no mistake because the information was provided to him by "our very attentive and trained people."
However, he said that it is possible that an aircraft in the crash could be a large UAV.
"Russians are silent. They trying to 'clean' comments until we informed everyone. The area where the plane fell is already a restricted area. The Russians partially turned off the internet in the Primorsky District, probably to prevent information spreading about search operations," he said.
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The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) claim to have shot down six Russian fighter aircraft in less than 72 hours.
On early Sunday morning, video of an aircraft reported to be a Russian Su-34 crashing in the Luhansk region made the rounds on social media.
Ukrainian defenders “brought down” another Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber. It happened in the morning, Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said, who was cited by the RBC Ukraine news outlet on Sunday.
Kyiv Post has not been able to independently verify the video.
“The Muscovites have ‘no losses’ again. Around 6:00 this morning, another Su-34 ‘successfully returned’ to base,” Oleshchuk wrote.
The Air Force clarified that this happened on the eastern front.
On Saturday, Feb. 17, Ukrainian forces reportedly shot down three Russian fighter aircraft – two Su-34s and one Su-35 – over Donetsk Oblast.
The Sukhoi Su-34 (NATO reporting name: Fullback) is Russia’s top, frontline fighter bomber.
Its primary mission as designed is to launch laser-guided bombs or long-range guided missiles in precision strikes at ground targets, however, it also carries advanced radars and can be fitted with modern air-to-air missiles.
Costing around $36 million a copy, the aircraft is one of the Russian military's most expensive.
The AFU General Staff claims to have shot down 335 Russian military aircraft since Feb. 24, 2022.
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