Ukraine Claims to Have Brought Down Russian Fighter Jet

(IntegrityPress.org) – Ukraine claims to have destroyed a Russian SU-34 supersonic jet over the newly independent Republic of Lugansk in what was previously considered eastern Ukraine.

The report came from an early morning brief on Tuesday, January 30th. The Ukrainian General Staff said that the destruction of the jet brought Russian losses to a total of 332 aircraft over the course of the war which began in February 2022.

The Ukrainians also reported the loss of 31 Russian artillery weapons and 29 armored vehicles. They said 10 tanks were also destroyed over the course of the war.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry issued congratulations to its servicemen on X (Twitter).

The claims have not been confirmed or denied by Russian officials within its Defense Ministry.

Defence Blog is reporting that the SU-34 is Russia’s most advanced medium-range fighter. The jet is also capable of doing bombing missions in addition to air-to-air combat, and has supersonic capability. The style of aircraft isn’t used in western militaries, with the closest approximations being the F-15E Strike Eagle and F-111 which are also multirole combat aircraft.

Newsweek is reporting that Ukraine hopes to receive some F-15 fighter jets to bolster its Soviet-era aircraft, though such support is unlikely as the Ukrainian effort has significantly lost support among the American populace and its representatives in Congress.

Russia has not given any numbers regarding its losses publicly. It has issued a statement regarding one SU-34 jet that was “lost” during a “training flight” over Russian territory in September 2023.

President Joe Biden was hoping to use the southern border crisis as leverage to get more Ukrainian funding from Congress, but Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said that any such bills that come into the House from the Senate that attempt to barter border security for money for Ukraine would be “dead on arrival.”

Biden’s aides have been telling people in closed-door meetings that more funding was vital, and that without it, Ukraine could lose the war “within weeks.”