Russia loses four aircraft shot out of the sky on Putin’s side of the Ukraine border 

TTwo Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters appear today to have been shot down near the border with Ukraine in suspected rocket attacks.

Videos pgFootage posted on Russian social media on Saturday appeared to show fighter jets and helicopters being shot down over the Bryansk region, bordering Ukraine.

Reports indicated that a Su-34 supersonic fighter-bomber and a Su-35 single-seat fighter had been shot down.

Two Mi-8 helicopters were shot down, one over Klintsy, a town in the Bryansk region, and the other close to the village of Volkkustichi in the Unechsky district, it was reported.

While some reports dispute the number of planes and helicopters downed — instead saying there were three in total — Mash and Baza’s media outlets, with ties to the authorities, said the total number of planes downed was four. They added that they had all returned from a combat mission.

Images posted by Russia’s pre-war Telegram channel Voyenniy Osvedomitel showed wreckage in an agricultural field of an Mi-8 helicopter

Wartime broadcasters reported two fighter jets and two helicopters, killing at least four crew members.

Russian reports say that the pilot and navigator in the Su-34, which crashed in the village of Istrovka near Starodub, failed to eject and were killed.

Videos showed a missile hitting an Mi-8 helicopter exploding and crashing to Earth in flames.

Helicopter crew members were also killed, reports said.

In one of the images, the helicopter appears to have been hit sideways as a wave of flame bursts through the rotorcraft, leaving a trail of black smoke.

Some reports claimed that the incident – which is said to have occurred about 40 miles from the border with Ukraine – was the result of friendly fire after being hit by a Kremlin missile.

Earlier, TASS quoted an emergency services source as saying: “The Su-34 crashed near the Ukrainian border. The fate of those on board is determined.”

Telegram account Rybar claimed that two Russian helicopters and a Su-34 fighter jet had crashed in the Bryansk region.

Russian Su-35 fighters are depicted. Reportedly, two fighter jets were shot down

A Russian Air Force Su-34. Wartime broadcasters reported two fighter jets and two helicopters, killing at least four crew members

But channel Ostorozhno Novosti reported that the second “crashed helicopter” was in fact the Su-34.

A woman was injured on the ground.

It is not known which missiles were used.

But Ukraine has begun deploying British-supplied Storm Shadow air to ground-based cruise missiles, with strikes in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region on Friday reported today.

Russian media initially claimed that the crashed helicopter had engine fire on footage rather than being hit by a missile.

The strikes have angered Russian pro-war experts who claim Putin’s high command has failed to properly prosecute the war.

Igor ‘Strelkov Girkin – for a long time a campaigner for all mobilization and martial law – said sarcastically: “Today’s heavy losses of our aviation in the Bryansk region due to the actions of the enemy brought some bloggers to the brilliant and total unexpected idea that we must fight the enemy.

“Well, who would have thought?”

He blames the Kremlin for not declaring full-scale war or putting Russia on a warpath.

Videos showed a missile hitting a Mi-8 helicopter which exploded and crashed to Earth in flames (file image of a Mi-8 helicopter)

Two Mi-8 helicopters were shot down, one over Klintsy, a city in the Bryansk region (Mi-8 helicopter file image)

Russia’s Telegram channel Military Informer said, “According to preliminary information, the helicopters lost in the skies of the Bryansk region were Mi-8MTPR-1 electronic warfare helicopters with Rychag-AV active jamming stations installed on board.

“The Rychag-AV complexes were created to disrupt the guidance of air defense systems and enemy aircraft, preventing the use of anti-aircraft and aircraft missiles at a distance of more than 100 kilometers [62 miles].

“Today, however, the Mi-8MTPR-1s turned out to be too close to the border.”

The helicopters assisted the Su-34 bomber for an operation over the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, while the Su-35 fighter provided cover.

The Russian warplanes and helicopters were shot down from the Chernihiv region, Readovka reported.

Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko suggested that the four planes were downed by Russia’s own air defense systems in a friendly fire incident.

Russia’s Telegram channel VChK also quoted a source as saying the planes may have been shot down by border air defenses.

There was no official statement from Russia clarifying what had happened.

This comes just a day after another Russian military helicopter crashed in Moscow-annexed Crimea during a training exercise.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced that the two pilots on the plane were killed on Friday after the incident.

The preliminary finding was that it was due to a mechanical failure, the statement said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will chair a Security Council meeting via video conference in Moscow, Russia, on Friday

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a joint press conference with the Italian Prime Minister in Rome today

“During a planned training flight in the Djankoi district of Crimea, an Mi-28 helicopter crashed,” it said, adding that the helicopter had no ammunition on board and there was no damage on the ground.

“The two pilots are dead,” it said.

The Mi-28 is a multi-task military helicopter capable of devastating strikes.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and used it as a launch pad for military operations in Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia says it has repelled several drone and missile attacks in Crimea in recent days.

In August 2022, the Djankoi military base was destroyed after explosions at an ammunition depot that Russia said was due to sabotage.

Ukraine said in March that an explosion there had destroyed Russian Kalibr cruise missiles, a claim Moscow denied.