Russia claimed that its forces had shot down five Ukrainian military planes, including four helicopters, in two days of action.
Three Ukrainian military aircraft, including a MiG-29 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters, were shot down by the Russian Air Force on December 29, 2022, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
However, Russia also claimed that on December 30, 2022, in Donetsk, two additional Kiev Mi-8 helicopters were destroyed by its fighters.
In the last two days of the year, Kiev has lost 4 helicopters and 1 fighter jet, assuming the information above is accurate. Ukraine has not responded to the Russian claims.
The conflict resulted in the loss of 9 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for Ukraine on December 29, 2022, including 1 TB-2, according to a separate announcement from Russia.
Russia has frequently reported downing Ukrainian fighter jets in recent years. Experts have frequently brought up the Su-35S and MiG-31 as two weapons.
The two fighters mentioned above were employed by Russia to carry out its “look down, shoot down” tactic. These aircraft will stay aloft while employing potent radar systems to scan the entire area below. They will then track enemy targets and fire precise air-to-air missiles at them from a few hundred kilometres away.
With this technique, Russia claims to have downed numerous Ukrainian aircraft, and Kyiv, which only has air-to-air missiles with a range of less than 100 km and few air defence systems, lacks the time to counter Russian strikes on the general populace.
