Ukraine Shot Down 6 Russian Fighter Jets Over 3 Days, Defense Ministry Claims

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claimed that the Armed Forces have downed six Russian fighter jets over three days.

Knewz.com has learned that the Ukrainian Air Force shot down two Russian fighter jets, a Su-34 fighter bomber and a Su-35S fighter jet, on Monday, February 19.

Ukrainian Armed Forces have downed six Russian fighter jets over three days, per the Ministry of Defense. By: MEGA

Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, said that air defenses downed a total of four Russian fighter jets over the weekend, three on Saturday, February 17, and one on Sunday, February 18.

“On the morning of February 17, 2024, in the Eastern direction, units of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed three enemy aircraft at once -two Su-34 fighter-bombers and one Su-35 fighter! Nothing will stop us!” Oleshchuk wrote on Saturday on Telegram.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, talked about Monday’s triumph of the Ukrainian Air Force on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying:

Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, said that air defenses downed a total of four Russian fighter jets over the weekend. By: MEGA

“This morning, Ukrainian Air Forces reported shooting down two Russian aircraft: a Su-34 and Su-35. A video appeared that reportedly shows one of the pilots “facedown” in the sea. This was confirmed by the Ukrainian Air Forces commander. Russian helicopters are flying over the sea, reportedly, they are looking for the aircraft crew.”

According to a recent report by Newsweek, the Ukrainian military said that Vladimir Putin’s forces lost a total of 336 aircraft so far since the beginning of the Ukraine war. According to Kyiv’s estimates, the Ukrainian armed forces have managed to bite off a significant chunk of Russian forces as the war completes two full years.

“The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces posts figures on Russia’s troop and equipment losses as part of its daily update on the war. It also said Russia had lost 1,290 troops in a single day—Moscow’s biggest reported loss of the year,” Newsweek wrote in their report, adding that the news outlet has not been able to verify the figures.

Ukrainian Air Defenses have kept Russia from achieving air superiority in Ukraine. By: Lockheed Martin

“Last month, the General Staff said Kyiv’s forces shot down a Russian Su-34 over the eastern Luhansk region of Ukraine. And in late December, Kyiv said it destroyed three more of the aircraft in a single day over Ukraine’s southern Kherson region,” the outlet further reported.

While these reports show that Russia has been unable to establish superiority in the air, the picture is quite different on the ground, as the key town of Avdiivka fell into Russian hands on February 17.

Although the Ukrainian Armed Forces put up a good fight in the region, the military chief in charge of the Ukrainian forces in Avdiivka had to order a complete retreat from the war-torn region on Saturday.

Ukrainian forces had to retreat from Avdiivka completely. By: MEGA

Oleksandr Syrsky, the chief of the Ukrainian forces in Avdiivka, announced the decision on his official Telegram channel, saying that the life of military personnel “is of the highest value.”

“Based on the operational situation around Avdiyivka, in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of servicemen, I decided to withdraw our units from the city and move to defense on more favorable lines,” Commander Syrsky announced on Telegram.

“Our soldiers honorably fulfilled their military duty, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units and inflicted significant losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment,” he added.

The military chief said that the Ukrainian armed forces are currently taking measures to try and stabilize the situation in Avdiivka and maintain military positions.