Ukrainian military intelligence said the Ukrainians used the same means to shoot down the bomber that were previously used to shoot down an A-50 surveillance plane over the Sea of Azov in January.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the bomber crashed while returning from a mission in Ukraine “due to a technical malfunction.” Residents of Stavropol published videos of the falling of a burning plane.
The bomber’s mission was part of a larger Russian air attack that killed eight people and injured 25 in eastern Ukraine’s Dnipro region in the early hours of Friday, local authorities said.
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down all 14 drones and 15 of 22 missiles launched by Russia in Friday’s attack.
In the city of Dnipro, the Russian attack damaged five high-rise buildings, two private houses, three educational institutions, seven administrative and office buildings, a market, shops, commercial pavilions and a hotel, reported the Dnipro regional military administration. In the Synelnykove district of the Dnipro region, the attack damaged more than 60 private houses and destroyed a solar power plant, the administration added.
“Every state that supplies air defense systems to Ukraine, every leader who helps convince partners that air defense should no longer be in warehouses, but in real cities and communities under attack by terrorists, everyone who support our defense are a lifeline,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said following the strikes.
Politices
