Two military helicopters and two Russian fighter jets were shot down on Saturday near the border with Ukraine. A Su-34 fighter-bomber, a Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters formed a raiding party, and were “shot down almost simultaneously” in a trap in the Bryansk district bordering upper eastern Ukraine, The Independent Russian revealed media source Kommersant.
“According to preliminary data … the fighters were to conduct a missile and bomb attack on targets in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, and the helicopters were to return them – among other things to pick up the ‘Su’ crew if they was shot,” it said.
Meanwhile, footage of what appears to be a helicopter shot down over Russia’s Bryansk region bordering Ukraine was shared on social media in Russia.
An emergency service official told state news agency TASS that preliminary information indicated the engine had caught fire before the crash near Klintsi, which is 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border.
There was no mention of the second helicopter or the Su-35.
However, in a video that was uploaded to the Russian pro-war Telegram channel Voyenniy Osvedomitel, a helicopter that was high in the sky went up in flames before crashing to the ground.
Ukraine, which usually declines to comment on reports of attacks within Russia, did not issue an official response.
However, senior adviser to the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolić referred to the incident in a tweet as an “urgent act”.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are advancing against Russian troops along parts of the front line near the war-torn eastern city of Bakhmut, Al Jazeera reported.
“Our troops are advancing in some areas of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpowerUkrainian Ground Forces leader Oleksandr Sirsky said via social media on Saturday.
In a retreat that the head of Russia’s Wagner private army referred to as a “defeat” rather than a “reorganisation”, Russia acknowledged Friday that its forces had retreated north of Ukraine’s destroyed eastern city.
Al Jazeera reported that Russia’s Defense Ministry in its most recent bulletin said that its forces have gained control of another Bakhmut block.
It said, “Units of the Airborne Forces provided support to the assault units and dropped the enemy on the flank.”
Wagner’s private militia, leading the assault on Bakhmut at high cost in terms of casualties, are often referred to by the ministry as “assault units”.
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