In A Dogfight, The Russian Air Force Shoots Down Ukrainian Fighter Jet: Report

According to Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov, a Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down during a battle in one of Ukraine’s eastern Russian-backed rebel territories.

In a story published Sunday by the Russian state-owned news agency TASS, Konashenkov gave a brief synopsis of the aerial battle.

“A Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 plane was shot down near Slovyansk in the Donetsk People’s Republic during an aerial confrontation,” he stated, according to an English translation of his remarks.

Russia’s alleged aerial victory occurred as the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) released a campaign evaluation that said the Ukrainian counteroffensive was having some success on the ground in eastern Ukraine, where combat is presently concentrated.

Even while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Russia will continue with its “special military operation” until all aims were met, according to Reuters, the ISW claimed in a report that the Ukrainian response signalled that Russia’s combat might in Ukraine was in decline.

According to the ISW’s June 5 assessment, Ukraine retook “vast sections” of Severodonetsk. Russian forces were “achieving tactical success” in Donbas, according to the UK Ministry of Defence, but it came at a “major resource cost” due to the concentration of its troops there.

The TASS article did not clarify when or how many planes were involved in the duel between Russia and Ukraine. Newsweek contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry for more details and comment on the aerial battle, as well as Ukraine’s Defense Ministry for confirmation and comment on the downed plane.

In his statements cited in the TASS story, Konashenkov reportedly listed a number of additional Russian military actions and strikes against Ukraine. He said that Russian Aerospace Forces deployed long-range precision missiles to destroy T-72 tanks at a railcar repair plant on the outskirts of Kyiv, which he claimed had been given to Ukraine by Eastern European countries.

According to NPR, Russian strikes on the facility on Sunday morning destroyed it, but journalists invited to examine the location in the aftermath detected no traces of weapons.

Russia was lying when it indicated the reportedly targeted tanks were situated at the factory, according to Alexander Kamyshin, the CEO of state-owned Ukrainian railways.

He wrote, “We don’t have any military machinery on our factory.” “We only use freight railcars to transport grain and iron ore.”