Russia lost 39 planes and 40 helicopters in nine days of war, claims Ukraine

As the Russia-Ukraine war entered its 10th day, the Ukrainian Air Force Command declared that they managed to destroy more of Russia's military equipment. As per a statement by the Defence Ministry, at least three Russian Su-25 military aircraft and three more helicopters of the Russian occupation forces were shot down on Friday. 

"Yesterday, the Russian invaders lost three players - so-called Su-25 attack aircraft. Two of them were shot down in the Chernihiv region and one near Volnovakha in the Donetsk region. In addition, three helicopters of the Russian occupation forces went on their last flight last night."

"Thus, during the nine days of the war, the Ukrainian air defense destroyed at least 39 Russian planes and 40 helicopters!" the statement read. 

It further stated that prior to the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military had concentrated about 700 units of aircraft - 450 planes and more than 250 helicopters - around its borders. 

Sukhoi-34 is an advanced twin-engine, twin-seat, all-weather supersonic medium-range fighter-bomber/strike aircraft which was first inducted into the Russian Air Force in 2014. Though Russia denied using Su-34 in the war against Ukraine, it was first seen on March 28 near the border of Kharkiv.

Subsequently, several media outlets captured the Russian Air Force of using the advanced fighter jet in the war. Earlier on Thursday, the Ukrainian military claimed to have shot down a Su-30 fighter over Irpin near Kyiv.

NATO denies policing No-fly Zone over Ukraine

Earlier today, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukrainian territory, NATO declined the request.

Zelenskyy warned that this decision of NATO might provoke widespread war in Europe with nuclear-armed Russia. "You will not be able to pay us off with litres of fuel for the litres of our blood, shed for our common Europe,” he said. 

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said at a presser, that banning the foreign planes over Ukraine’s airspace would imply NATO air support shooting down Russian missiles and warplanes, an act that can further flare the conflict. “We are not part of this conflict,” he said. And adhering to such an appeal, he went on, would result in a “full-fledged war in Europe involving many more countries”

On February 24, the Russian troops started a military operation against Ukraine, resulting in the heavy shelling and killing of more than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians.

Image: Facebook/Ukraine Air Force