UPDATE - Kyiv claims downing 3 Russian fighter jets over eastern Ukraine

Ukraine’s air force commander says Russian fighter jets shot down are Sukhoi Su-34s

CHANGES HEADLINE AND LEDE; ADDS LATER STATEMENT BY UKRAINIAN AIR FORCE COMMANDER; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Kyiv claimed on Thursday that it downed a total of three fighter jets belonging to Moscow over the country's eastern regions as the Russia-Ukraine war entered its third year.

In an initial statement on Telegram, Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of the Ukrainian air force, said that a Sukhoi Su-34 was downed overnight.

Oleshchuk later said that Ukraine's air defense shot down two more Su-34 fighter jets in the Avdiivka and Mariupol directions in the country's Donetsk region.

No further information about the incidents has been released, and Russian officials have yet to comment on Ukraine's claims.

Over two years ago, Russia launched what it has called a "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Kaynak: