Russian information outlet Kommersant has reported that two Russian fighter jets and two army helicopters have been shot down near the Ukrainian border in Russia’s Bryansk area in what can be a stunning military operation for Kyiv if confirmed.
Kommersant, a revered, unbiased business-focused day by day, stated on its web site on Saturday {that a} Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter, and two Mi-8 helicopters that had made up a army raiding get together have been “shot down virtually concurrently” in an ambush within the Bryansk area, adjoining northeast Ukraine.
“In line with preliminary information … the fighters have been speculated to ship a missile and bomb assault on targets within the Chernihiv area of Ukraine, and the helicopters have been there to again them up — amongst different issues to choose up the ‘Su’ crews in the event that they have been shot down,” the media outlet reported.
Kommersant supplied no proof for its report that the 4 plane had been downed by Ukrainian forces, however the identical assertion was additionally made by a number of closely adopted prowar army bloggers.
Russia’s Defence Ministry didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. There was no official response from Ukraine, which often declines to touch upon experiences of assaults inside Russian territory, although pro-Ukrainian social media was awash with hypothesis that the downing of the 4 plane was not unintentional.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote in a tweet that the Russian plane had supposed to launch a “missile-bomb assault” on Ukraine’s Chernihiv area however have been “destroyed by ‘unidentified individuals’”, which he described as “immediate karma”.
“’Killers on wings’ have been destroyed BEFORE the subsequent crime can be dedicated,” he wrote.
An air group of two SU fighter jets (34 and 35) and two help helicopters flew over the Bryansk area to launch a “missile-bomb assault” (formally) on the civilian inhabitants of Chernihiv area in Ukraine. The air group was destroyed by “unidentified individuals.” Justice, because it…
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) May 13, 2023
The Russian state information company TASS reported on Saturday {that a} Russian Su-34 warplane had crashed in that area however didn’t specify a trigger.
TASS additionally reported an emergency providers official saying an engine fireplace in a Russian helicopter had induced it to crash close to town of Klintsy in Bryansk, about 40 km (25 miles) from the border with Ukraine. The report made no point out of the Su-35 or of a second Russian helicopter crashing or being shot down.
A helicopter has caught on fireplace and crashed within the Bryansk Area, a supply within the emergency providers informed TASS. Two individuals died:https://t.co/gbN6YWBLrX
© Telegram-channel “Podslushano Klintsy” pic.twitter.com/zLQqmHLQ0I
— TASS (@tassagency_en) May 13, 2023
A video posted on the Russian prowar Telegram channel Voyenniy Osvedomitel, which has about half 1,000,000 followers, confirmed a helicopter excessive within the sky struggling an explosion, being thrown astray, after which plunging in direction of the bottom in flames and later an enormous plume of thick black smoke rising from the obvious crash web site.
Feedback accompanying the video, which the Reuters information company couldn’t instantly confirm, stated it confirmed a Mi-8 being shot down by a missile. Different photographs posted by the channel and different army running a blog websites confirmed photographs of falling plane and wreckage in fields.
One of many worst days ever for the Russian Air Drive: At the moment, no less than 4 aircraft- an Su-34 strike jet, an Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters, have been shot down by anti-air missiles over Bryansk Oblast inside Russia.
To date it’s unclear what sort of missiles have been used. pic.twitter.com/LjipZShRWC
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) May 13, 2023
Voyenniy Osvedomitel stated it appeared that “probably, the enemy staged an ambush with air defences beforehand transferred to a border zone shut sufficient to hit our group”.
It stated the downed helicopters gave the impression to be Mi-8MTPR-1 digital warfare craft capable of jam enemy radio and goal indicators.
The Kommersant information web site stated all 4 crews had been killed.
Ukraine’s The Kyiv Impartial reported that Russian authorities at the moment are trying to find “saboteurs” in reference to the destruction of the army plane.
The Institute for the Research of Battle stated that geolocated footage from the crash websites positioned the incident some 50km (31 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
“Russian [military bloggers] speculated that every one 4 plane crashed as the results of a coordinated Ukrainian strike utilizing air defence programs pulled to the border space of Chernihiv Oblast,” the Washington, DC-based assume tank reported.
“A number of Russian milbloggers seized on the incident to criticize facets of how the Russian aerospace forces conduct air operations and to accuse the management liable for these plane of gross negligence and incompetence,” the ISW reported.
#Ukrainian forces proceed to counterattack within the #Bakhmut space amid unconfirmed claims of additional marginal Ukrainian features southwest of town as of Could 13.
Our newest: https://t.co/U1doC4AKmr pic.twitter.com/4bFIXFeB0Q
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) May 14, 2023
Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine reported numerous Russian drone attacks and several other explosions within the western Ukrainian area of Khmelnytsky. Crucial infrastructure had been hit and other people injured, the mayor of the regional capital of the identical identify, Oleksandr Symchyshyn, stated.
The authorities stated 11 individuals have been injured. In line with experiences, railway services have been additionally affected.
In line with the Ukrainian army, a complete of 18 out of twenty-two Iranian “kamikaze drones” of the sort Shahed-131/136 had been shot down within the in a single day assaults, the ISW reported.
