Dubai: Two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters were reportedly shot down on Saturday not far from the Ukrainian border, according to the Russian news outlet Kommersant. If true, this would be a stunning victory for Kiev.
The Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter, and two Mi-8 helicopters were part of a raiding party and were "shot down almost simultaneously" in an ambush in the Bryansk region, which borders northeast Ukraine, according to Kommersant, a reputable, independent business-focused daily.
According to preliminary information, "the fighters were supposed to carry out a missile and bomb attack on targets in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, and the helicopters were there to support them, among other things to pick up the 'Su' crews if they were shot."
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A Russian Su-34 warplane crashed in that area, according to the Russian state news agency TASS, but the cause was not given.
An emergency services official was also quoted by TASS as saying that a helicopter's engine fire caused it to crash close to Klintsy, which is about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the border. The Su-35 or a second helicopter were not mentioned.
However, a video posted on the roughly 500,000-follower Voyenniy Osvedomitel pro-war Telegram channel in Russia showed a helicopter in the sky being hit by an explosion, being thrown off course, and then crashing into the ground in flames.
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The video's comments, which Reuters was unable to independently verify, claimed to show a Mi-8 being shot down by a missile. The channel also shared pictures of wreckage in a field of crops.
Kommersant's claim that four aircraft had been shot down was unsupported by any evidence, but several widely read pro-war military bloggers also made the same claim.
An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by the Moscow Defence Ministry.
It appeared, according to Voyenniy Osvedomitel, that "most likely, the enemy staged an ambush with air defences previously transferred to a border zone close enough to hit our group."
Apparently Mi-8MTPR-1 electronic warfare craft with the ability to jam enemy radio and targeting signals, according to the report, were the downed helicopters. According to Kommersant, all four crews perished.
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Although Ukraine typically declines to comment on reports of attacks inside Russia, there was no official response from that country. Mykhailo Podolyak, a key adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, contrasted this by referring to the incident in a tweet as "justice... and instant karma."