The Air Force noted that Su-34 and Su-35 aircraft have been bombarded with guided bombs over the past few days, in particular the Avdiivka bridgehead and other directions.
The representative of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yuriy Ignat, does not rule out that the pilots of the three downed Russian aircraft could have ejected. He said this on air at the telethon, answering a question about the shooting down of three planes of the Russian occupiers today.
“This is a very beautiful sign. This is not the first time that aircraft of this type have crashed: both Su-34 and Su-35. What exactly are the circumstances and details – of course, we will not talk about it. But this is what is needed. This is what will strengthen the position , including our ground forces,” the speaker noted.
Ignat added that Su-34 and Su-35 aircraft have been bombarding guided bombs over the past few days, in particular the Avdeevsky bridgehead and other directions.
“We have been talking about guided aerial bombs for more than six months. The enemy first used them alone in the Kherson direction, Berislavsky district. There they tested these guided aerial bombs, which can glide about 70 kilometers – this is the range of their use. Now they are reaching those indicators , that they can release up to a hundred per day at the positions of our troops,” he said.
The representative added that “they fly to a depth of 20-25 kilometers, because planes don’t fly closer.”
“And when they provoke and fly up, they get the same results as we have today,” Ignat noted and suggested that now the Russians will be afraid to fly closer.
He also emphasized that the only way to fight KABs is by destroying their carriers.
“The long-range air defense systems that we already have will help destroy Russian aviation and prevent it from approaching our borders; F-16 aircraft with long-range missiles will help, which will be able to drive Russian aviation away,” said the speaker of the Armed Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Ignat also said that according to intelligence data, when the planes were hit, it was clear that parachutes were flying.
“We’ll probably also find out whether the pilots survived. Even from their public pages, I think this will soon be known,” he added.
To clarify that it is not yet clear what the fate of the Russian pilots is, the representative said: “It is not yet clear. It was clear that the catapults on these planes worked. Perhaps not on all of them. We will monitor in more detail what the fate of the Russian pilots who tried to eject was.”
As reported, earlier the commander of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Nikolai Oleshchuk said that on the morning of today, February 17, Ukrainian defenders shot down three Russian aircraft at once – two Su-34 fighter-bombers and one Su-35 fighter. Oleschuk added that good news came from the eastern direction of the front.
In addition, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Alexander Syrsky, noted that Ukrainian soldiers shot down Russian aircraft during enemy attacks with guided bombs on the positions of Ukrainian troops.
