Ukrainian forces successfully ambushed three Russian Su-34 multirole bombers, an incident seen as a major setback for Russia as victory was in sight. The commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Mykola Oleshchuk, announced on December 23 that he had successfully ambushed the three famous Su-34 front-line fighter-bombers in the southern regions of the country, Alarabiya reported. In his speech on Friday evening, Ukraine's Zelensky thanked the soldiers who shot down the Russian fighter jet in the Kherson region, revealing that it was the Odessa Air Missile Defense Battalion of the Ukrainian Air Force that did it. The Su-34 fighter-bomber is a Russian high-mobility, all-weather, supersonic and twin-engine two-seat fighter-bomber, capable of carrying various types of air-to-surface missiles and carrying up to 8 tons of ammunition. As one of the newest aircraft in service with the Air Force and Space Forces of the Russian Federation, it is conservatively estimated that each Su-34 fighter-bomber will cost at least $50 million. The hunt for Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers has been going on for a long time, and these fighters are causing great distress to the Ukrainian defense forces in the southern direction, noted that the secretary of the Defense Committee of Ukraine has been going on for a long time.
Speaking on Army TV, the spokesman for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel-General Yuri Ignat, disclosed the details of the attack on three Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers. According to him, Russian fighter pilots have recently become arrogant, trying to launch guided aerial bombs at deeper depths of the Ukrainian army's defenses, they risked flying very close to the depth of the Ukrainian army, but they failed to succeed and were eventually shot down by missiles equipped by Ukraine. Colonel Ignat arrogantly claimed that the Ukrainian air defense forces elegantly destroyed three Russian Su-34s, and this is not the first time. According to a report by the Ukrainian ukr** on December 23, Russian sources said that the scenario of these planes being shot down is almost similar to that of the "Bryansk Big**". The Ukrainian Air Force did not specify which system shot down the Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber. Some experts note that the Su-34 was developed as a fighter capable of evading the Buk and S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems. Therefore, it can be assumed that the Russian fighters were destroyed by more advanced anti-aircraft missiles than the S-300. The Ukrainian Air Force managed to shoot down 5 Russian warplanes over the Bryansk region, an incident known as 'Bryansk Great**'
It is reported that the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system was involved in the operation. Although the Russian side has not yet commented on Ukraine's claim that "three Russian Su-34 fighters were shot down in one day", the historical incident of three advanced planes being shot down at the same time has attracted the attention of Russian commentators and propagandists. A Russian military blogger named "Fighter-Bomber" said that the cause of these losses was most likely the Patriot air defense missile system. Another war blogger reported on the "** situation with the Su-34 bombers," saying that the bombers were shot down by the MIM-104 Patriot system while dropping gliding bombs to Ukrainian bridges on the east bank of the Dnieper. Since the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, Western countries led by the United States have provided Ukraine with a large amount of military assistance, including a variety of advanced air defense systems. The aid helped Ukraine build a multi-layered air defense system, which today has the world's most advanced Patriot air defense system, Nasamsiris-T and Samp T air defense systems, as well as the Mole, Cheetah air defense systems, and hand-held portable anti-aircraft missile systems. In particular, the Patriot missiles aided by the United States, Germany, and other countries have become a mortal threat to the Russian military's war structure.
On December 23, Ukrainska Pravda reported that Ukrainian officials revealed that 1,040 Russian troops were killed and 17 Russian tanks were destroyed in one day on the 22nd. If this Ukrainian information is true, then the Russian army has suffered heavy losses. The loss of three advanced fighters and the death of thousands of people in one day was a terrible blow.