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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s aerial unit claimed Friday it changeable down a Russian strategical bomber, but Moscow officials said nan level collapsed successful a sparsely populated area owed to a malfunction aft a combat mission.
Neither declare could beryllium independently verified. Previous Ukrainian claims of shooting down Russian warplanes during their much than two-year warfare person met pinch soundlessness aliases denials from Moscow.
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Meanwhile, Russian missiles struck cities successful nan cardinal Dnipro region of Ukraine, sidesplitting 8 people, including a 14-year-old woman and 8-year-old boy, and injuring 28, section officials said.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated Kyiv officials’ almost regular appeals for much Western aerial defense systems, again drafting a parallel pinch really Israel blunted a caller Iranian attack.
Missile and drone attacks tin beryllium thwarted, he wrote connected societal level X: "This has been demonstrated successful nan skies complete nan Middle East, and it should besides activity successful Europe."
Ukrainian servicemen walk nan segment of a building damaged by a Russian onslaught successful Dnipro, Ukraine, Friday, April 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba added: "Children must not beryllium killed successful airstrikes successful modern Europe."
Russia’s aerial unit is vastly much powerful than Ukraine’s, but blase rocket systems provided by Kyiv’s Western partners are a awesome threat to Russian aviation arsenic nan Kremlin’s forces slow push guardant on nan astir 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) beforehand statement successful what has go a grinding warfare of attrition. Ukrainian officials opportunity they expect a awesome Russian violative successful nan summer.
Ukraine said nan aerial unit and subject intelligence cooperated to bring down nan Tu-22M3 bomber pinch anti-aircraft missiles. Russia commonly uses nan bomber to occurrence Kh-22 cruise missiles astatine Ukrainian targets from wrong its ain airspace. The level tin besides transportation atomic warheads.
The Russian defense ministry said nan warplane collapsed "in a deserted area" successful nan confederate region of Stavropol, hundreds of kilometers (miles) from nan Ukrainian border.
Three unit members were rescued aft ejecting from nan aircraft, and nan hunt for a 4th is taking place, according to nan ministry. But Stavropol Gov. Vladimir Vladimirov said 1 of nan rescued pilots died.
On Christmas Eve, Ukraine claimed to person changeable down 2 Russian combatant jets. In January, nan Ukrainian aerial unit said it changeable down a Russian early informing and power level and a cardinal bid halfway craft that relays accusation to troops connected nan ground, successful what appeared to beryllium a important rustle for nan Kremlin’s forces. The adjacent month, Ukraine said it knocked retired different early informing and power plane.
Also successful January, Moscow accused Kyiv of shooting down a Russian subject carrier level that was carrying Ukrainian POWs who were headed for a captive swap.
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Russian forces overnight conducted a mixed aerial onslaught pinch nan usage of 22 missiles of various types and 14 Shahed drones during nan night, nan Ukrainian aerial unit said. All nan drones and 15 of nan missiles were intercepted, it said.
The onslaught deed municipality areas arsenic good arsenic train infrastructure successful nan Dnipro region, Ukraine’s National Railway Operator said. Among those killed successful nan strikes was worker Oksana Storozhenko, nan mother of 2 teenage sons, it said.
