MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. One third of all destroyed Ukrainian aircraft was downed with the help of man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), Russian Air and Missile Defense Forces Commander Lt. Gen. Andrey Semyonov said.

"Short-range anti-aircraft missile systems (Strela-10 MANPADS) have also proved their efficiency, as being in the forward echelons of our troops, they destroy dozens of the enemy’s reconnaissance and attack UAVs every day, as well as Ukrainian ground-assault and army aircraft operating at low and extremely low altitudes. In total, these systems account for a third of the destroyed Ukrainian manned aircraft," Semyonov, who is also deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, said in an article.

In his words, the S-400, S-350 and Pantsir-S air defense systems, along with the battlefield air defense systems S-300V4, Buk-M3(M2) and Tor-M2, form the backbone of Russia’s air defense network.

This system, along with the fighter aircraft of the Aerospace Forces, has significantly reduced Ukrainian strike capabilities. The general added that crews of radar stations and anti-aircraft missile systems have been constantly adapting to new threats, improving the existing ways of countering air-borne enemy capabilities and developing new ones.