Kyiv: Russia reduced number of airstrikes after Ukraine downed 3 of their Su-34 jets

The Russians have reduced the number of airstrikes after losing three of their Su-34 fighter jets in Ukraine’s south, spokesman for Ukraine's Air Force Yurii Ihnat said on Monday.

“The enemy is now trying to do as much reconnaissance as possible to gather information in the southern areas where the Russian fighters had been shot down. They are obviously trying to identify the assets that sent those warplanes on their ‘eternal flight’ [i.e. destroyed], as they say,” Ihnat said according to Ukrainian newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda.

Ihnat added: “The enemy is engaging much fewer aerial weapons, especially guided bomb units, particularly on the Kherson front.” He stressed that the Ukrainian downing of the Russian jets can be repeated.

“The enemy realizes that our systems, including the long-range ones provided by our partners, can be deployed to other areas, not just where the Russian Su-34s were downed. We can undertake such operations on different fronts; the issue is getting more of these systems. We are looking forward to the assistance that has already been announced, including the supply of additional Patriot, Iris-T systems, etc.” the Ukrainian official detailed.

On Friday, Ukrainian forces shot down three Russian Su-34 fighter bombers on the southern front, Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.

On the other hand, the Russian Ministry of Defense said its air defenses shot down three Su-27 fighter aircraft and one Su-24 tactical bomber in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions of southeastern Ukraine, state news agency TASS reported on Sunday.