A Russian Su-25 attack aircraft was shot down by a missile from a hand-held rocket launcher, Ukrainian ground forces commander Oleksandr Pavlyuk said on Wednesday. The aircraft was shot down in the Kramatorsk region in eastern Ukraine.
“Another Russian Su-25 burned down in the steppes of the Ukrainian Donbas. In the Kramatorsk sector (Donetsk region – ed.), our soldiers shot down a Russian Su-25 aircraft that was trying to shell the positions of the (Ukrainian) Defense Forces,” the Khortytsya group command said on Telegram.
Russian Su-25 aircraft. Illustrative photo mil.ru
Falling Su-25. Photo provided by Khortytsya groupKhortytsya Group
The plane was shot down by the anti-aircraft unit of the 28th Independent Mechanized Brigade named after the Knights of the Winter Campaign, using a portable hand-held missile system. “As of today, the Russian Air Force has one less plane. Its wreckage now decorates the landscape of Donbas,” the formation reported, adding that “the fate of the Su-25 crew is currently unknown.”
Ukrainian Land Forces Commander Oleksandr Pavlyuk has released a recording purporting to confirm the downing of an enemy aircraft.
The moment of shooting down the Su-25. A shot from the recording Oleksandr Pavlyuk/Telegram
“In the direction of Kramatorsk, soldiers of the 28th Independent Mechanized Brigade named after the Knights of the Winter Campaign forced a Russian attack aircraft to land. We thank the military for their professional combat work!” – Pawluk wrote on Telegram.
The Ministry of Defense in Kiev commented on the event with the words: “Start your day with great news.”
According to the reports of the General Staff in Kiev, since the beginning of the armed aggression, the Russian army has lost Ukraine 368 airplanes and 328 helicopters.
Main image source: Oleksandr Pavlyuk/Telegram