- The last £40m two-seat Su-34 was shot down towards Mariupol
Ukraine claims to have shot down another Su-34 bomber – the fourth in three days – in a significant blow to Vladimir Putin's war effort.
It came as shelling by Kiev forces caused a major inferno in the Russian-occupied mining stronghold of Horlivka, destroying its main shopping centre.
The last two-seat Su-34 worth £40 million was shot down towards Mariupol and was announced by the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk.
“It has been confirmed that our anti-aircraft missile system hit the Su-34 fighter-bomber heading towards Mariupol,” he said.
“He didn't return to the airport.”
The last two-seat Su-34 worth £40 million was shot down towards Mariupol and was announced by the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk (file photo)
It came as shelling by Kiev forces caused a major inferno in the Russian-occupied mining stronghold of Horlivka, destroying its main shopping centre.
Videos show the burning shopping center in Horlivka, a town linked to Barnsley in South Yorkshire
Ukraine is also checking evidence that it downed an Odesa-bound Su-30 fighter jet over the Black Sea.
The blows defy gloom over the progress of the war in Ukraine, amid signs of a slowdown in Western supplies.
Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat has claimed that Russia has been forced to reduce its combing attacks due to the loss of Su-34s.
On December 22, Ukraine announced the downing of three Su-34s, believed to have been hit by Patriot missile strikes.
Russian aviation expert Alexey Zakharov called the losses a “cruel” reality of war.
Ukraine launched a fierce attack on Horlivka, hitting a 'warehouse' believed to be used by the Russian army in the city's main shopping centre, Galaktika.
Russian Su-34 bomber (archive photo). “It has been confirmed that our anti-aircraft missile system hit the Su-34 fighter-bomber in the direction of Mariupol,” Oleschuk said.
Ukraine launched a fierce attack on Horlivka, hitting a 'warehouse' believed to be used by the Russian army in the city's main shopping centre, Galaktika. In the photo: the building is on fire
According to Russian sources, one woman was killed and six were injured in the rocket attacks on the city in the Donetsk region.
Videos show the burning shopping center in Horlivka, a town linked to Barnsley in South Yorkshire.
Russia claimed to have shot down three Su-27 fighter jets and one Su-24 tactical bomber – all Ukrainian – but there was no confirmation of this claim.
Separately, images have emerged of damage caused by a Ukrainian HIMARS attack on a fuel train in Ilovaisk.
At least six 55-ton tank wagons were destroyed during the attack on a train supplying the Russian military machine in the occupied Donetsk region.