The Ukrainian army mentioned on Monday that it had shot down 5 Russian fighter jets in three days, one of many largest weekly losses for the Russian air power for the reason that conflict started and a uncommon vivid spot for Ukraine, whose forces have confronted setbacks since its failed monthslong counteroffensive this yr.
However the information may very well be offset if Russia’s declare that it had seized full management of the jap city of Marinka is true. Russian forces have progressively superior over months of battle in opposition to Ukrainian troops there, however Ukraine denied that the city was fully beneath Russian management.
Simply days after claiming to have downed three Su-34 fighter-bombers on Friday, the Ukrainian army mentioned it had destroyed two extra jets on Sunday. The claims couldn’t be independently verified.
Early Tuesday morning, Ukraine’s Air Power claimed one other victory, saying it had destroyed a Russian ship, the Novocherkassk. The account couldn’t be independently verified. Sergey Aksyonov, the Russia-installed head of Crimea, mentioned that Ukrainian forces had attacked the Crimean Black Sea city of Feodosia, beginning a fireplace in its port.
Army analysts, in addition to a number of Ukrainian officers, have advised that Western-supplied Patriot missile techniques could have been used within the assaults on the Russian planes — an uncommon occasion of the air protection techniques, which have largely been deployed to shoot down incoming missiles, getting used in opposition to plane.
Celebrating the Monday announcement, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine mentioned, “This Christmas units the best temper for the entire subsequent yr.”
The identical day, Russia mentioned it had taken the few blocks in Marinka that remained beneath Ukrainian management. Regardless of being largely diminished to rubble after months of shelling, Marinka holds some strategic worth as a result of it’s a key Ukrainian fortification on the jap entrance.
Nonetheless, Ukraine has had time to construct fallback positions in case the city falls and has vowed to thwart Russia’s efforts to advance to the borders of the Donetsk area, which it claimed to have annexed final yr.
“Our troops have the chance to ascertain a wider operational space,” Mr. Putin mentioned in a video of a dialog between him and Russian protection minister Sergei Shoigu, throughout which Mr. Shoigu informed the Russian president that Marinka had been captured.
However Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesman for the Ukrainian army, denied Russia’s declare to now have full management of Marinka, saying on nationwide tv that Ukrainian forces “are inside the metropolis.”
Russia has seized the initiative on a lot of the battlefield, and delays within the supply of much-needed army assist brought on by political wrangling in Washington have reportedly compelled some Ukrainian items to reduce operations.
Though Russia has not been capable of obtain air supremacy all through Ukraine, the dimensions of its air fleet dwarfs that of Ukraine’s and has been a driving power behind Moscow’s common bombing of Ukrainian military positions, alongside assaults from Black Sea warships and area artillery. The downing of the jets might ease the stress on Ukrainian troops working within the scorching spots of the combating, analysts mentioned, resembling close to the southern metropolis of Kherson.
On Monday, Yurii Ihnat, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Air Power, mentioned on nationwide tv that Russia “was now not actively combating within the Kherson area, realizing that there may very well be a lure for them” and had as an alternative launched a dozen drones within the space to attempt to determine the system that shot down the planes.
The Su-34 jets are Russia’s trendy fighter bombers, with the flexibility to hit distant targets whereas carrying a number of tons of bombs and missiles. They’ve been repeatedly used to strike Ukrainian forces with highly effective glide bombs, that are guided airdropped munitions able to flying lengthy distances.
Ukrainian officers mentioned that an Su-34 destroyed on Sunday was working close to the southern Russian-occupied metropolis of Mariupol, whereas the situation of one other Su-30 jet that was downed is unknown.
The three warplanes downed on Friday have been working close to the southern metropolis of Kherson, authorities mentioned, from which Ukraine has launched daring however lethal operations to safe a bridgehead on the Russian-controlled jap financial institution of the Dnipro River.
In response, Russian forces bombarded the world, together with Kherson, which is on the alternative financial institution and in Ukrainian arms. Native authorities mentioned that three civilians have been killed within the shelling of residential buildings on Sunday.
Mr. Ihnat informed Ukrainian tv that the Russian jets had been flying near Ukrainian protection positions, making an attempt to hit them with guided bombs, after they have been shot down.
“They took a danger,” Mr. Ihnat mentioned, “with out success.”
Though Ukraine has not formally confirmed how the 5 warplanes have been downed, Mykola Bielieskov, a army analyst on the Nationwide Institute for Strategic Research, a Ukrainian authorities analysis group, mentioned that U.S.-designed Patriot techniques — America’s most superior ground-based air-defense system — could have been concerned within the operation.
The Patriot can shoot down incoming missiles earlier than they hit their meant targets, in addition to have interaction plane as much as a couple of hundred miles away.
Mr. Bielieskov mentioned Ukraine had already used the system to shoot down 5 Russian plane in Might over Russia’s Bryansk area, as Mr. Ihnat informed the Ukrainian media not too long ago.
Ukrainian military officers additionally hinted at using Patriot techniques in destroying the jets.
On Friday, Ukraine’s Air Power commander Mykola Oleshchuk revealed a screenshot of a Russian article referring to President Vladimir V. Putin’s assertion final yr that the Russian military would destroy the Patriot techniques. “Coincidence. I don’t assume so,” Mr. Oleshchuk wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The subsequent day, Mr. Ihnat revealed a message on Fb that included emojis representing a cranium and crossbones, three planes, and an image of a Patriot system. “That’s precisely what offers us confidence and good temper,” he mentioned.
The Russian authorities made no point out of the incidents, though they mentioned on Sunday that their army had shot down 4 Ukrainian jets, a declare which couldn’t be independently verified.
However the Fighterbomber Telegram channel, believed to be run by Capt. Ilya Tumanov of the Russian Military, reported on Friday the lack of an unspecified variety of Russian warplanes, saying they’d been downed by Patriot missiles.
When Ukraine first obtained some Patriot techniques earlier this yr, they have been in brief provide and have been largely used to guard Kyiv in opposition to Russian assaults, and in that position, they’ve proved very profitable.
Since then, there have been extra deliveries of the delicate system, together with one earlier this month from Germany. Mr. Bielieskov mentioned that some techniques could now have been deployed at websites close to the frontline, together with on the southern entrance, “as a canopy for land groupings of forces.”
Ukraine has been extremely secretive about using Western air defenses out of concern that the Russian military would goal them.
Mr. Zelensky mentioned throughout a information convention final week that Ukraine would obtain a number of further Patriot techniques this winter, with out specifying a quantity. “We’re getting stronger, extra highly effective,” he mentioned.
Valeriy Romanenko, a Ukrainian aviation professional, informed Ukrainian radio on Saturday that the presence of Patriot techniques on the southern entrance would make the state of affairs safer for Ukrainian troops.
“Now this variety of raids with KABs will lower,” Mr. Romanenko mentioned, utilizing the identify for the guided bombs fired by Russian jets. The Russians must “rigorously put together every operation, examine whether or not there’s a Patriot close by,” he added.
Nataliia Novosolova and Ivan Nechepurenko contributed analysis. Yan Zhuang contributed reporting.
