According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and military officials, the country’s forces successfully shot down three Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber aircraft on the southern front on Friday, marking a victory in the 22-month-old war.
While the Russian military did not mention the incident, Russian bloggers acknowledged the loss and analysts suggested that U.S.-supplied Patriot missiles may have been used in the attack. However, Reuters was unable to independently confirm the reports.
Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk declared on the Telegram messaging app, “Today at noon in the southern sector — minus three Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers!”
The Air Force spokesperson Yuri Ihnat described the operation as “brilliantly planned” and emphasized that the downing of Su-34s was a noteworthy achievement, as the model is one of Russia’s most modern aircraft for bombing and other assaults.
Zelenskiy also expressed his praise for the Odesa region anti-aircraft unit for successfully downing the Russian planes in the Kherson region, which was occupied during Moscow’s February 2022 invasion. Despite this, Ukrainian forces have been working to regain territory, and in November, they established positions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson.
According to Russian journal Eurasia Daily, the Ukrainian account of the incident was deemed plausible, and it was speculated that Kyiv could have launched Patriot missiles from the western side of the Dnipro River, as these missiles have a range of up to 160 km against high-altitude targets.
Ukrainian aviation expert Valeriy Romanenko also weighed in, stating that he believed Patriot missiles were most likely responsible for downing the Russian jets. He explained, “The Russians were dropping up to 100 bombs in the south. Three were flying together and got caught. They didn’t quite take into account that the Patriot has a range of 160 km for aerodynamic targets.”
Following the lightning gains made by the Ukrainian forces a year ago in retaking Russian-held territory, they have had fewer successes in their counteroffensive launched in the east and south in June. Although Zelenskiy acknowledges that progress has been slower than hoped, he dismissed assertions by General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi that the war has entered a phase of “attrition” requiring a change in tactics.
(Reporting by Ronald Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
