Russian media says that four military aircraft were shot down on Saturday, causing Moscow’s air forces to suffer their heaviest casualties in 14 months of conflict.
Early reports state that “the helicopters were there to support the fighters, among other things to pick up the ‘Su’ crews if they were shot down, and the fighters were supposed to deliver a missile and bomb attack on targets in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine.”
According to The Telegraph, Russia’s air force last suffered such devastating attacks in early March of last year.
In a separate development, Volodymyr Zelensky landed in Berlin on Sunday to meet with German authorities to discuss more weaponry shipments.
Two Russian fighter aircraft and two military helicopters were reportedly shot down on Saturday near the Ukrainian border, according to the Russian news agency Kommersant. If true, this would be a stunning victory for Kiev.
On its website, Kommersant said that an ambush in the Bryansk region, which borders northeast Ukraine, resulted in the “shot down almost simultaneously” of a raiding force made up of a Su-34 fighter-bomber, a Su-35 fighter, and two Mi-8 helicopters.
Early reports state that “the helicopters were there to support the fighters, among other things to pick up the ‘Su’ crews if they were shot down, and the fighters were supposed to deliver a missile and bomb attack on targets in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine.”
A Russian Su-34 war plane crashed in that area, according to the Russian state news agency TASS, although the explanation was not given.
According to a spokesperson for the emergency services, a helicopter’s engine fire caused it to crash not far from Klintsy, which is around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the border.
The Su-35 or a second chopper were not mentioned.
A helicopter in the sky was shown in flames falling to the earth in a video shared on the Russian pro-war Telegram group Voyenniy Osvedomitel. The helicopter was hit by an explosion, pushed off track, and finally crashed.
Kommersant’s claim that four aircraft had been shot down was unsupported by any proof, but numerous well read pro-war military blogs also repeated the same claim.
In his first trip to the nation since Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed Germany for its assistance at a meeting with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday.
Zelensky traveled from Rome to Berlin after having separate meetings with Pope Francis and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday. The Vatican will assist in the repatriation of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russians, the pope said.
He arrived in the middle of the night on a German government aircraft that was escorted over German territory by fighter aircraft from the Luftwaffe air force.
Germany, the largest economy in Europe, was criticized at the beginning of the conflict for what some saw as a reluctant response, but it has now emerged as one of Ukraine’s major sources of financial and military support.
The government promised continued assistance for Kyiv for as long as required and on Saturday provided 2.7 billion euro ($3 billion) in military aid to Ukraine, its largest such package since Russia’s incursion in February last year.
