Two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters were shot down near the border with Ukraine on Saturday, Kommersant reported, in what would be a serious blow to Kyiv’s support if confirmed.

Su-34Photo: Shutterstock

The respected independent business daily Kommersant wrote on its website that Su-34, Su-35 fighter jets and two Mi-8 helicopters formed a raid group and were “almost simultaneously shot down” from the ambush. in the Bryansk region, bordering northeastern Ukraine.

“According to preliminary data… the fighter jets were to launch a missile-bomb attack on targets in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, and the helicopters were there to support them – among other things, to pick up the Su crews if they were shot down. .”

Russian state news agency TASS reported that a Russian Su-34 military aircraft had crashed in the region, but did not specify the cause.

TASS also quoted a representative of the emergency services as saying that the helicopter crashed near Klinti, about 40 km from the border, due to an engine fire.

It did not mention either the Su-35 or the second helicopter.

However, a video posted on the pro-war Russian Telegram channel “Military Whistleblower”, which has about half a million subscribers, shows the helicopter exploding in the sky and then falling to the ground in flames.

Comments on the video, which Reuters could not verify, said it showed an Mi-8 being shot down by a missile. Other images released by the channel showed debris in an agricultural field.

Kommersant did not provide any evidence for its report that four planes were shot down, but several pro-war military bloggers made the same claim.

Moscow’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Military informant” noted that, most likely, the enemy had set up an ambush with previously transferred air defense equipment in the border zone, sufficient to hit our group.

It is reported that the downed helicopters were similar to Mi-8MTPR-1 helicopters capable of jamming the enemy and sending radio signals.

Kommersant reports that all four crew members have died.

There was no official response from Ukraine, which usually refuses to comment on reports of attacks inside Russia.

However, Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, called the incident “Justice… and karma” on Twitter.

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