Russia Just Lost Another Su-25 Fighter Jet: Kyiv

Russian Su-25 assault aircrafts release smoke in the colours of the Russian flag while flying over Moscow’s Kremlin Borovitskaya tower during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 7, 2019. Ukraine’s 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade shot down “another Russian Su-25 in the Donetsk region today,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address on Saturday.

Ukraine shot down a Russian fighter jet in the east of the country on Saturday, according to Kyiv, as Moscow’s aircraft continue attacks with lethal aerial bombs.

Ukraine’s 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade shot down “another Russian Su-25 in the Donetsk region today,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address on Saturday.

“Good job, guys!” the Ukrainian leader added.

Ukraine often publicizes when it reports the loss of a Russian aircraft, including Su-25 jets. Last month, the head of the U.S.’ European Command, General Christopher Cavoli, told U.S. lawmakers that Russia had lost around 10 percent of its aircraft fleet in the full-scale war which is in its third year.

Kyiv’s air force is expected to have Western-provided F-16 fighter jets in the coming weeks, many months after the jets were originally pledged by a handful of Ukraine’s backers. The jets, although not a gamechanger in small numbers, will help replenish aircraft losses with more advanced hardware.

Ukrainian air force spokesperson Illya Yevlash said the country’s ground forces had targeted the Russian Su-25 jet. “We see excellent work, including the work of small- and medium-range air-defense units that can effectively deal with various types of air targets, including aircraft,” Yevlash said, according to Ukrainian media.

“I want to thank each warrior in our mobile firing groups, in the air force, in air-defense units of other types and branches of the military forces—all those who are protecting now and will continue to protect the Ukrainian skies from Russian terror,” Zelensky added. “It is important to be as attentive as possible these days.”

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Air defenses have long been a priority for Ukraine, key for fending off persistent attacks from Russia’s larger and more advanced air force. Zelensky said on Saturday that Russia had fired eight missiles and “almost 70” guided aerial bombs along the border and the front line.

In recent weeks, Russian jets have launched guided aerial bombs from outside the reach of Ukraine’s air defenses. Moscow has used modified Soviet-era “dumb” munitions, converted into precision-guided winged bombs, to devastate Kyiv’s positions.

Ukraine has consistently lobbied for more Western-made air-defense systems, and the missiles to keep them firing, in the face of near-constant strikes. A recently-committed tranche of military aid from the U.S., that had spent months languishing in Congress, focused on Kyiv’s air-defense needs, as well as refilling artillery ammunition stocks.

Start your unlimited Newsweek trial