MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/. Russian fighter jets shot down two MiG-29 planes of the Ukrainian Air Force in the past 24 hours in the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Friday.

"In the past 24 hours, fighter aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down two MiG-29 planes of the Ukrainian Air Force in the areas of the settlements of Slavyansk and Druzhkovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

Russian combat aircraft, missile and artillery troops struck about 230 Ukrainian military targets in the past 24 hours in their special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.

"In the past 24 hours, operational-tactical and army aviation aircraft, missile and artillery troops struck 18 command posts, and also manpower and military hardware in 211 areas," the spokesman said.

The MiG-29 multirole fighter was engineered by the Mikoyan Design Bureau in the 1970s. The MiG-29 is designed to engage aerial targets mainly within its radar field and also to strike ground targets with rockets within the visual range.

Various modifications of MiG-29 fighters are operational in some countries, including Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bulgaria, India, Kazakhstan, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

According to the data available as of 2021, the Ukrainian Air Force operated 37 MiG-29 fighters.

Air defense

Russian air defense systems also shot down two Su-25 ground attack planes of the Ukrainian Air Force in the Nikolayev Region and nine unmanned aerial vehicles in the Kharkov and Kherson Regions and in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported.

"Russian air defense capabilities shot down two Su-25 planes of the Ukrainian Air Force near the settlement of Barmashovo in the Nikolayev Region and also nine Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the areas of the communities of Balakleya, Izyum, Peschanoye and Ternovaya in the Kharkov Region, Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson Region and Vesyolaya Tarasovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

Also, the Russian air defense systems intercepted nine Uragan rockets in the areas of the settlements of Khartsyzsk, Koroviy Yar and Khanzhenkovo in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Andreyevka in the Kharkov Region and Tomarino in the Kherson Region, the general added.

Russian forces have destroyed 253 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 1,543 unmanned aerial vehicles and 4,060 tanks and other armored vehicles since the start of their special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.

"In all, the following targets have been obliterated since the beginning of the special military operation: 253 aircraft, 137 helicopters, 1,543 unmanned aerial vehicles, 355 surface-to-air missile systems, 4,060 tanks and other combat armored vehicles, 746 multiple launch rocket systems, 3,147 field artillery guns and mortars and 4,341 special military motor vehicles," the spokesman said.

The Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack aircraft is designed to provide close support to ground forces day and night and destroy targets with designated coordinates round-the-clock in any weather conditions. Su-25 aircraft are operational in the air forces of about 25 countries and have been involved in all major armed conflicts over the past 50 years. They were recently used in Russia’s military operation in Syria and its peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh.