CONFLICT
Ukraine Claims Fourth Russian Su-34 Shot Down in Two Days
At approximately 1400 EST, Ukrainian sources reported that a Russian air attack was underway against Odessa. By 1415 EST, Ukrainian military bloggers claimed that a Russian Su-30 had been shot down in the attack. Commander of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk, announced at 1500 EST that the Su-30 report had not been verified, but that an additional Su-34 had been destroyed near Mariupol. This shootdown would be there fourth Su-34 fighter bomber downed in two days after U.S. supplied PATRIOT surface-to-air missile systems shot down a flight of three Su-34s above Kherson Oblast on December 22nd.