Ukraine’s military says it managed to shoot down three Russian fighter-bombers in the south of the country.
Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said the Su-34 jet crashed around midday Friday (22/12).
In the announcement he noted a message found on a crashed Russian drone read “Die, bitch.”
“Great idea! Here’s our response!” he said on Telegram.
In a speech on Friday (22/12) evening, President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the troops who shot down Russian fighters in the Kherson region.
“It was a victory for our Air Force and a direct action of the Odessa Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade. Thank you guys!” he said.
READ ALSO: Ukraine Shoots Down 24 of 28 Russian Drones
“And may every Russian pilot be aware of our response to every Russian killer – none of them will go unpunished.”
The Kremlin has not commented on Ukraine’s claims. However, Russian war blogger Fighterbomber said the incident caused damage, most likely caused by the Patriot missile air defense system.
Another war blogger, the Voenniy Osvedomitel (“Military Informer”) channel on Telegram, also reported “losses among Su-34 bombers” which they said were used to drop glide bombs on the Ukrainian bridgehead at Krynky on the Russian-held eastern bank of the Dnipro River.
Zelensky said he spoke with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte about sending F-16 jets to Ukraine and discussed agreeing to a new 50 billion euro ($55 billion) European Union support package for Ukraine.
READ ALSO: Ukrainian Air Defense Shoots Down 34 of 35 Russian Drones
“The Netherlands is preparing to send the first F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. From political decisions regarding the provision of aircraft, we have moved on to training pilots and engineers, and now we are carrying out the technical part – the actual delivery of F-16 fighters to Ukraine. F-16 jets,” he said.
The Netherlands announced on Friday that it was preparing to deliver a promised 18 US-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, at a time when Kyiv is under pressure on all fronts.
With US approval, Denmark and the Netherlands announced in August that they would provide up to 61 jets, once Ukrainian pilots were trained. [ah/ft]
2023-12-23 09:54:14
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