Ukrainian forces shot down and destroyed a Russian Su-25 ground attack aircraft in the eastern Donetsk region, Kyiv's military said on Wednesday.
"Ukrainian warriors from the 28th Mechanized Brigade shot down a Russian Su-25 plane in the Kramatorsk direction. Bravo!" Ukraine's defense ministry said in a statement posted to social media.
Newsweek contacted the Russian defense ministry by email for comment.
The Context
Russia's Air Force has suffered extensive losses since the start of Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
What We Know
The country's Khortytsia group of forces operating in Donetsk said anti-aircraft units of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade shot down the jet using a Man-Portable Air-Defense System (MANPADS).
The jet "was trying to fire at the positions of units of the Defense Forces," it said in a statement on Telegram.
"Another Russian Su-25 burns out in the steppes of the Ukrainian Donbas," the Khortytsia group of forces said, referring to an area that comprises Ukraine's occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions. "As of today, Russian assault aviation has one less aircraft. Its wreckage now decorates the Donetsk landscape."
The 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade shared footage on Telegram that purportedly shows the moment the Su-25 was shot down in Donetsk. "The fate of the crew is still unknown," it said.
Dutch open-source intelligence defense analysis website Oryx has visually confirmed that 112 Russian aircraft have been destroyed and 15 damaged since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine.
Oryx has also visually confirmed that 94 Ukrainian aircraft have been destroyed since the beginning of the war, with three damaged and one captured.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in an update on Wednesday that Moscow had lost 368 aircraft since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Newsweek couldn't independently verify Kyiv's figures.
What's Next?
The Russian Su-25 jet was downed in the Donbas area, which faces constant shelling. The Kremlin has been pushing for the total capture of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions since Russia's initial invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014, and it continues to make gains in these areas.
Russia is focusing much of its manpower on seizing the city of Pokrovsk, a key logistical hub for Ukrainian forces in the area.
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