The Ukrainian Air Force announced this Thursday the shooting down of two more Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers after reporting the destruction of an enemy aircraft in the east of the country, bringing the total to 13 in February, according to Kiev.
“It seems like they don’t know. The Russian pilots do not jump to conclusions. Two more Su-34s belonging to the occupiers were destroyed at the fronts Avdivka And Mariupol today, around 9:00 a.m.,” Air Force Commander Mikola Oleshchuk wrote on his Telegram channel.
At the same time, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed the news: Oleksandr Sirski, via your Facebook account. “After successful combat operations against enemy aircraft, two more Russian fighters were destroyed on the night of February 29: Su-34 fighter-bombers in the Avdivka and Mariupol regions,” he said.
This Tuesday, Ukrainian forces had already destroyed two Su-34 in 24 hours, during They also shot down two Su-35s during the month of February. Russia uses these fighters to attack Ukrainian positions from the air and to facilitate the work of its ground troops.
In addition, on February 23, Ukraine hit a Russian A-50 spy plane over the Sea of Azov, a very important aircraft for Russia that detects air defense systems and coordinates targets for the Russian Air Force thanks to its long-range radar system. Scope. The head of the Ukrainian secret service, Kyrylov Budanov, said his secret service had been preparing specifically for two weeks to bring down terrorism Beriev A-50, which is based on the Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft. He reiterated the use of Ukrainian weapons.
Why is Ukraine shooting down so many Russian planes at a time of weakness for Kiev? One possibility raised by experts is that the Ukrainian Air Force has deployed U.S.-made Patriot anti-aircraft systems strategically on the front lines, rather than exclusively around critical infrastructure in major cities.