On the morning of 27 February, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Lt-Gen Mykola Oleshchuk reported that Ukrainian air defenders downed another Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber aircraft, adding to the significant tally of Russian air asset losses over the past weeks. This is the sixth Russian bomber lost in February.

According to Oleshchuk, the aircraft was destroyed in Ukraine’s east, while its pilots managed to bail out.

Meanwhile, in the early hours of the same day, Russians launched their daily suicide drone attack on Ukraine, augmented by several missile strikes.

Ukraine’s Air Force says the Russians launched 13 Iranian-made Shahed-series one-way attack drones from the north (Russia’s Kursk Oblast) and southeast (Russia’s Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Krasnodar Krai). Additionally, an undisclosed number of Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles were launched from Russia’s Voronezh Oblast. Moreover, they also attacked Ukraine with four Kh-59 air-launched guided missiles and one Kh-31P anti-radiation missile from occupied areas of Kherson and Donetsk oblasts.

The only system in Ukraine capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, the Patriot, is not deployed in the country’s east, which was targeted by the Iskanders or the North Korean KN-23s.

The Air Force says Ukrainian air defense units have shot down 11 of 13 Shaheds, and two Kh-59 missiles in five regions in Ukraine’s east and south. The air assault was repelled by Ukraine’s fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missile units, mobile fire groups, and electronic warfare units.

Late on 26 February, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Head Serhii Lysak said a drone was downed in the region, and two cruise missiles.

On the morning of 27 February, the Khmelnytskyi Oblast Military Administration reported that one drone was destroyed during a nearly two-hour air raid alert that lasted around midnight. Sumy Oblast saw one more Shahed downed, according to local authorities.

The authorities of Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytskyi, and Kirovohrad oblasts, where air defenses were active, didn’t report and damage or civilian casualties attributed the Russian air assault.

Read also:

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• General Staff: Ukraine destroys Russian Su-34 bomber in Luhansk Oblast
• UK intel: Russia’s air superiority on southern front weakened as Ukraine downs three Su-34 bombers