The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had brought down five Ukrainian fighter jets within 24 hours, including a Su-27 and a MiG-29.

According to a high-ranking legislator, a Ukrainian Osa missile defense system was responsible for shooting down a Ukrainian MiG-29 plane. He further stated that they had only been slightly involved in the incident.

The Russian Defense Ministry also claimed that the Russian Aerospace Forces had destroyed five Ukrainian fighter jets in the past 24 hours. Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said that the Su-27, Su-24, two Su-25, and MiG-29 were all among the Ukrainian jets shot down by the Russian Air Force. 

According to Konashenkov, a Su-27 and a Su-24 were taken down in the Kharkiv Region. At the same time, two Su-25 jets were destroyed in Nikolaypolye and Novy Donbas, and a MiG-29 was shot down in the Donetsk People’s Republic. However, the ministry did not specify which aircraft were used in the missions that downed the Ukrainian jets. 

Additionally, the MoD also claimed that air defense systems had eliminated five Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in Patalakhovka, Kuzemovka, Kuzmino, Kremennaya, and Pshenichnoye of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic. If the Russian MoD’s reports are accurate, it would be a significant blow to the Ukrainian air force, which is already under-equipped. In particular, the MiG-29 has been used widely by Ukraine in combat against Russian forces, and footage of the plane equipped with HARMs assisting Ukrainian troops in countering Russian defenses has been seen on social media. 

In a surprising development, however, on Jan. 8, it was reported that a Ukrainian Osa missile air defense system had shot down one of the country’s MiG-29 aircraft near Kurakhovo, DPR. This was revealed by the deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma defense committee, who was present in the particular military operation area, as reported by Tass. He stated that the Ukrainian Osa missile air defense system had destroyed its MiG-29 and that the Russian forces had been only slightly involved.

Russian Supply is Running Out

Russia utilizes a lot of drones, including the Iranian-made Shahed-136, to bomb Ukrainian positions. With that, Russians are quickly depleting their stockpile of these Kamikaze drones. In the latest Institute for the Study of War update, Vladimir Putin’s powers had expanded the recurrence of UAV (or uncrewed aerial vehicle) assaults throughout Ukraine, as Kremlin aims to keep attacking the nation’s basic framework without agonizing over running out of rockets. 

In recent months, Moscow’s war mission has generally included Shahed drone strikes, which the Russian military renamed Geran-2 drones. The 11-foot-long UAVs have a top speed of around 115 mph. They can be distinguished by the low humming sound they make, and they are worked to convey warheads that detonate or break when they hit their objective. 

The Iranian drones that Kyiv’s military shot down had parts made by in excess of twelve American and Western organizations, as indicated by an earlier report by The EurAsian Times. As of late, Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s guard priest, asserted that Russian powers had depleted up to 88% of their stockpile of Shahed drones. 

Subsequently, Moscow’s military would have 90 Iranian-made UAVs. Besides that, the Kremlin will soon get another shipment of Shahed drones, which were recently requested in sets of 200 to 300 UAVs each, as indicated by the ISW. As indicated by specialists, the Kremlin’s use of drones is planned to “exhaust” the Ukrainian restriction powers. The Ukrainian President also said that Russia was arranging a long haul hostile utilizing Shahed drones and that Moscow was likely betting on debilitating Ukraine’s energy foundation and hostile to airship protection frameworks.

Meanwhile, the White House forced new authorizations on Jan. 6 to hit Iranian organizations which it claims fabricated the drones used to assault Ukrainian individuals. In an explanation to the media, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that Kremlin’s dependence on “providers of last resort” like Iran “demonstrates their desperation in the face of the solid Ukrainian opposition.”

This ultimately shows the power of their allied unity in upsetting Russian military supply chains and denying them the supplies they require to supplant weapons lost in the fight, she said.