MOSCOW, July 25. /TASS/. Russian air defense forces shot down a Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopter in the Zaporozhye Region, intercepted 10 rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and destroyed 22 enemy drones over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Tuesday.
"Air defense capabilities shot down a Ukrainian Air Force Mi-24 helicopter near the settlement of Novodarovka in the Zaporozhye Region. In the past 24 hours, they intercepted 10 rockets of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system," the spokesman said.
During the last 24-hour period, Russian air defense systems also destroyed 22 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Lisichansk and Popasnaya in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Petrovskoye and Lozovoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Energodar, Zelyony Gai, Belochki and Sladkaya Balka in the Zaporozhye Region, the general reported.
In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 457 Ukrainian warplanes, 244 combat helicopters, 5,258 unmanned aerial vehicles, 426 surface-to-air missile systems, 10,889 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,139 multiple rocket launchers, 5,604 field artillery guns and mortars and 11,888 special military motor vehicles since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.