Four Ukrainian Su-27 (NATO reporting name: Flanker-B) fighter jets, one Mil Mi-8 (NATO reporting name: Hip) helicopter, and a Turkish-made Bayraktar TB-2 drone were shot down in the area around Zhytomir on 5 March, the Russian Defence Ministry has stated.
Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that the four jets were downed in an aerial fight, while air defences on the ground took down the Mi-8 helicopter, Bayraktar drone, as well as an Su-25 (NATO reporting name: Frogfoot) fighter jet. Additionally, the Russian Armed Forces destroyed five Ukrainian radars and two Buk M-1 air defence systems, Konashenkov said.
A significant part of the Ukrainian Air Force was destroyed during the first days of Russia’s special operation, which was launched on 24 February by President Vladimir Putin. 69 jets were destroyed on the ground in airstrikes on military airfields, the Defence Ministry said. Another 21 jets were shot down in the air, the ministry noted.
Apart from that, the Russian military has shot down 59 Ukrainian drones, destroyed 748 tanks and other armoured vehicles, 76 multiple launch rocket systems, and 274 units of artillery since the start of the operation, Konashenkov revealed.
Russia launched the special operation citing Kiev's failure to fulfil the Minsk agreements and stop shelling the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR). President Vladimir Putin said that the goals of the operation are the demilitarisation of Ukraine via the removal of weapons that endanger Russia and assuring its neutrality, as well as the de-Nazification of the country.