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Non-stop Fighting in Ukraine: Ukraine Claims it Shot Down Three Russian Fighter Jets
Dec. 23 (UPI) — Ukraine’s military leaders have claimed they shot down three Russian fighter jets on the southern front. These occurrences mark a first, significant event in the 22-month-old war between the two countries.
The Ukrainian military General Staff announced the downing of three Su-34 fighter bombers over Kherson region on Friday in a social media update.
“Over the past day, the Defense Forces Aviation has struck 12 areas of concentration, weapons and military equipment of the enemy. Also, the air defense destroyed 3 Su-34 fighter bombers,” they said in a post.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged the downed aircraft in his speech on Friday.
“Grateful to our soldiers who destroyed three Russian Sukhoi aircraft at once in the South, in our Kherson region,” he said. “It’s the gain of our Air Force and the direct action of the Odessa Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade. Thank you, guys! And may every Russian pilot be well aware of our response to every Russian killer — none of them will go unpunished.”
In a report by Sky News, official Russian media did not mention the downing of the aircraft on Saturday, but Russian bloggers writing on the Telegram messaging app acknowledged the loss.
These claims came as Russian forces stepped up their attacks on the southern Kherson region over the weekend.
Ukrainian presidential office deputy chief Oleksiy Kuleba said in a Facebook post there have been almost 500 attacks in the area with more than 2,500 shells fired since the beginning of this week.
“This is an average of one hundred attacks per day,” he wrote, adding that two people were killed and another 28 wounded in the Kherson region.
“We are strengthening sky protection in every region of Ukraine,” Kuleba said. “Most Russian drones today [were shot down by] mobile fire groups. Their work is effective and helps to save missiles to destroy enemy winged missiles and aviation.”