According to US intelligence sources, Russia has withdrawn 10 Su-35 and MiG-31 aircraft from the Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland, out of fear of being destroyed by a Ukrainian attack.
On August 27 the Russian Defense Ministry announced that a fighter jet of the Air Force of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet near Malinovka in the Russian-controlled area Self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
According to the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Air Force also destroyed a launcher of Ukraine’s Buk-M1 medium-range air defense missile system.
The notice of the Russian Ministry of Defense also adds that the tactical-tactical air forces; Missiles and artillery of the Russian Federation during the special operation in Ukraine hit 7 command posts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) on August 27.
Among them, military facilities on Ukrainian territory that were attacked included the headquarters of the 102nd Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces in the Chervonoe region of the Zaporizhzhia region and the headquarters of the nationalist unit “Kraken” in the Kharkiv region.
In addition, the headquarters of 37 artillery units, points of the gathering of manpower, and military equipment in 142 districts were also attacked with heavy damage.
During the counter-attacks, the Russian army suppressed four batteries of BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) and three batteries of Ukrainian 2S1 Gvozdika artillery in the Donetsk and Mykolaiv regions.
In the past day, Russian air defense systems shot down 1 Tochka-U tactical ballistic missile in the Chernobaevka region and 18 M142 HIMARS rockets in the settlements of Naddnepryanskoye Oleksandrivka, Solnechnoye, Skhidnoye, as well as in Antonovsky bridge area in Kherson region.
In addition, the Russian air defenses also shot down seven Ukrainian drones in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions, preventing the maximum damage they could cause.
Also on August 27, the US Business Insider newspaper cited a confidential report of the NATO military alliance that said that the Russian Air Force had transferred 10 fighter jets over Crimea to the mainland, including 6 multi-purpose Sukhoi Su-35S and 4 Mikoyan MiG-31BM interceptors.
The American newspaper said that this is considered part of an effort to disperse Russia’s air force in Crimea (Russia deploys 32 permanent fighter jets in Crimea, most of which are Su-27 fighters), after a series of attacks. The attack targeted military infrastructure on the peninsula, causing great damage to Russian forces.