Four Ukrainian Air Force (UAF) Su-27s were shot down today in a dogfight with Russian fighter jets near Zhitomir while one Su-25 was shot down by air defense systems in Nizhny district.
A spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said in a press briefing in Moscow today that the Air Defense Forces also destroyed a Mi-8 helicopter of the Ukrainian Air Force, as well as a Bayraktar TB-2 drone today.
The fate of the pilots of the Su-27 and other downed aircraft is not yet known.
After today's air battle, “were destroyed: 69 aircraft on the ground and 21 in the air, 748 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, 76 multiple launch rocket systems, 274 field artillery and mortars, 532 units of special military vehicles , as well as 59 drones,” Konashenkov said in a press briefing.
However, the Ukrainian government has not commented on the loss of four Su-27s nor any information regarding the “air battle”.
It should be noted that Russia claims the complete destruction of airfields of the Ukrainian Air Force UAF. In this scenario, the place of take-off of the Su-27 of the UAF was not disclosed.