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| Russian Air Defense Systems Shoot Down 3 Ukrainian Fighter Jets in 24 Hours |
Moscow - Russian air defenses shot down three Ukrainian military planes over the past few days. This is the claim of the Russian Ministry of Defense, as Moscow continues its large-scale missile attacks on Ukraine.
“Air defense capability destroyed three aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force. Two Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter planes were shot down near the settlements of Ulyanovka in the People's Republic of Donetsk and Mirolyubovka in the Kherson Region," said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, as reported by Al Arabiya, Wednesday (3/5/2023).
He added that the Su-25 of the Ukrainian Air Force crashed near the settlement of Veletenskoye in the Kherson Region. The war raged as the Russian offensive over the past few months failed to yield any significant gains for Moscow despite heavy fighting between the two sides. Kiev is now preparing for a major counterattack after being equipped with hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles supplied by its Western allies.
The talk also said that Russian forces targeted and destroyed dozens of Ukrainian troops, military sites storing weapons and equipment, and ammunition depots in several regions of Ukraine over the past few days. He added that Russian air defenses had intercepted eight rockets from the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and two HARM anti-radar missiles from the Ukrainian army over the past 24 hours.
Konashenkov added that since the start of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the Russian armed forces destroyed 416 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 230 helicopters, 3,919 unmanned aerial vehicles, 421 anti-aircraft missile systems, 8,938 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, 1,095 multiple rocket launchers, 4,709 guns and field artillery mortars and 9,911 special military motorized vehicles.
Russia's announcement came a day after Moscow said it had successfully launched missile strikes overnight targeting military sites in Ukraine such as ammunition factories and weapons depots. "Overnight, the Russian armed forces launched a group of missile strikes using long-range air- and sea-based high-precision weapons against Ukrainian military-industrial facilities," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. "The aim of the attack has been achieved... The work of companies that make ammunition, weapons and military equipment for the Ukrainian troops has been disrupted," the statement continued.
However, Moscow did not provide any evidence to support this. Al Arabiya was unable to independently verify the Russian account.