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from https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-claims-down-three-russian-fighter-bomber-jets-2023-12-23/?utm_source=newsshowcase&utm_medium=gnews&utm_campaign=CDAqDQgAKgYICjC3oAwwsCYwiY7nAg&utm_content=rundown&gaa_at=g&gaa_n=AYRtyla4MGTBAqd_IH_
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Ukraine claims to down three Russian fighter-bomber jets
Reuters
December 22, 20236:21 PM PSTUpdated 7 hours ago

Dec 22 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and military officials said the country's forces shot down three Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber aircraft on Friday on the southern front, hailing it as a success in the 22-month-old war.

The Russian military made no mention of the incident. But Russian
bloggers acknowledged the loss, and analysts suggested U.S.-supplied
Patriot missiles had probably been used.

Reuters could not independently confirm the reports.

"Today at noon in the southern sector -- minus three Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers!" Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote
on the Telegram messaging app.

Air Force spokesperson Yuri Ihnat described it on national television as
a "brilliantly planned operation."

"There haven't been Su-34s for some time in our positive statistics," he
said, citing the model as one of Russia's most modern aircraft for
bombing and other assaults.

Zelenskiy in his nightly video address praised the Odesa region
anti-aircraft unit for downing the planes in Kherson region.

The region was occupied in the first days of Moscow's February 2022
invasion. Ukrainian forces have sought to regain territory and in
November established positions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River
in Kherson.

Eurasia Daily, a Russia-based journal, said the Ukrainian account was plausible. Kyiv could have launched Patriot missiles, which have a range
of up to 160 km (100 miles) against high-altitude targets, from the
western side of the Dnipro River, it said.

Ukrainian aviation expert Valeriy Romanenko told Ukrainian NV Radio he
believed Patriot missiles most likely downed the Russian jets.

"This was a situation there the Russians were...dropping up to 100 bombs
in the south. Three were flying together and got caught. They didn't
quite take into account that the Patriot has a range of 160 km for
aerodynamic targets," Romanenko said.

Ukrainian successes have become less frequent since its forces made
lightning gains a year ago in retaking Russian-held territory in the
northeast and in the south.

A counteroffensive launched in the east and south in June has had
limited progress. Zelenskiy acknowledges that gains have been slower
than hoped but has dismissed assertions by the military commander in
chief, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, that the war has entered a phase of "attrition" requiring a change in tactics.

Reporting by Ronald Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Editing by Cynthia Osterman

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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