MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/. Russian air defense systems shot down a Ukrainian Su-27 plane and also intercepted two shells of the Smerch multiple launch rocket system near Izyum, Defense Ministry Spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said on Friday.
"Russian air defense capabilities shot down a Su-27 plane of the Ukrainian Air Force near the settlement of Platonovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
The Russian air defense forces also eliminated seven Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the communities of Liptsy in the Kharkov Region, Sladkoye and Zemlyanka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Tretyakovka and Varvarovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and near Snake Island, Konashenkov said.
"Also, two projectiles of the Smerch multiple launch rocket system were intercepted near the city of Izyum," the general said.
Overall, the Russian forces have destroyed 152 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 112 helicopters, 749 unmanned aerial vehicles, 291 surface-to-air missile systems, 2,867 tanks and other combat armored vehicles, 331 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,345 field artillery guns and mortars and 2,698 special military motor vehicles, the general specified.
The Su-27 is a fourth-generation multirole supersonic all-weather frontline fighter. According to open sources, the Ukrainian Air Force operates four modifications of the Su-27 jet, including the upgraded Su-27UB and Su-27P1M versions with new GPS navigation devices and improved performance. According to the 2022 World Air Forces directory, the Ukrainian military operated 26 Su-27 fighters as of the end of 2021, without taking trainer aircraft into account.