Ukraine claimed three more Russian Su-34 bombers downed on Friday, all in the southern area of operations which has been the focus of Kyiv's counteroffensive efforts over the past six months.
The Ukrainian military published the claim—made by Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk—on
social media on Friday. This brings the total number of Russian aircraft Kyiv claims to have destroyed since February 2022 to 327.
Newsweek cannot independently verify the figure and has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email.
The war in Ukraine has been costly for Russia's air force, despite its numerical superiority. The Oryx open-source intelligence tracker has reported 21 Su-34 strike aircraft destroyed since February 2022, among a total of 88 downed military planes. Oryx lists 77 destroyed Ukrainian aircraft over the same period.
Unconfirmed reports on the pro-war Russian Military Informant Telegram channel attributed Friday's three destroyed Su-34 aircraft to a U.S.-made MIM-104 Patriot air defense system, the first of which arrived in Ukraine in April.
The losses—if confirmed—add to a painful picture for the Russian air force. Moscow has been unable to suppress Ukrainian aerial operations despite its much larger air force and the claimed potency of long-range missiles that were expected to be used to destroy Kyiv's aircraft on the ground in the opening hours of the full-scale invasion...
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