Ukrainian Military Transport Aircraft Destroyed In Odessa - Russian Defense Ministry

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th June, 2022) Russia's anti-aircraft defense systems shot down a Ukrainian military transport aircraft and 17 drones over the past 24 hours, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.

"Russian air defense systems near Odessa shot down a military transport aircraft of the Ukrainian air force that was delivering weapons and ammunition," Konashenkov told a briefing, adding that 17 drones, including Bayraktar TB2s, were also destroyed in the Luhansk People's Republic, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions over the past 24 hours.

The Russian artillery, in turn, destroyed 33 control centers, 131 firing positions and hit 542 hubs with Ukrainian troops and equipment, according to the briefing. Additionally, Russian high-precision missiles hit an artillery training center in Ukraine's Sumy region, where foreign instructors were training Ukrainian soldiers to use American 155mm M777 howitzers.

"As a result of the strikes, more than 400 nationalists were killed, 20 tanks and armored combat vehicles, four BM-21 Grad missiles and 29 multipurpose vehicles were destroyed," the spokesman said.

In total, over 3,400 units of Ukrainian special military vehicles have been destroyed since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov added.

"A total of 187 aircraft, 129 helicopters, 1,104 unmanned aerial vehicles, 328 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,406 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 466 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,769 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 3,405 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation," Konashenkov said.

Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 in response to calls by the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics for protection from Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the goal of the operation, which targets Ukrainian military infrastructure, is to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine, and to completely liberate Donbas.