Russia Claims Its Su-35S Fighters Destroyed Ukrainian Plane

Russia has claimed that its Su-35S fighters have destroyed a Ukrainian plane.

The footage begins by showing a Russian aircraft taxiing onto a runway at an undisclosed location before taking to the skies.

The images then show the aircraft flying high in the air before it can be seen firing a missile at an unseen target.

The aircraft can then be seen apparently coming in to land back at base.

The images were obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Wednesday, 11th January, along with a statement claiming: "In the course of performing combat missions, the crews of multirole fighters worked out patrolling in a given area and covering the actions of bomber and attack aircraft, as well as army aviation helicopters during air strikes on military facilities and equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"Flights of Russian Aerospace Forces fighters were carried out with suspended missiles of various classes.

"During one of the sorties, an aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was detected and destroyed in a timely manner."

We have not been able to independently verify the claims or the footage.

Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a "special military operation". Today marks the 322nd day of the war.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 11th January, Russia had lost about 112,960 personnel, 3,094 tanks, 6,159 armoured combat vehicles, 2,078 artillery units, 437 multiple launch rocket systems, 217 air defence systems, 285 warplanes, 275 helicopters, 1,862 drones, 723 cruise missiles, 17 warships, 4,826 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 184 units of special equipment.

Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.

The leader of the Russian mercenary organisation Wagner has claimed that his forces have taken control of the Ukrainian town of Soledar.

Yevgeny Prigozhin said: “Wagner units have taken the whole territory of Soledar under control.”

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked the "heroic" defenders of the town but did not provide any new information about the military situation on the ground.

US and Ukrainian officials have said that Russia's artillery fire has dropped by up to 75 per cent in some places on the battlefield, indicating a weakening of the Russian position in the conflict.

Western officials have said that Ukraine cannot retake significant swathes of territory from Moscow without a boost to its military capability, including tanks.

One Western official said on Tuesday that the Russian and Ukrainian forces are too closely matched for Kyiv to be able to launch a major offensive.

They said that a request from Ukraine for 300 tanks was “not an unreasonable number” in order to be able to launch an offensive against Russia’s forces.

US officials have said that Ukrainian troops are to begin training to use the Patriot missile system in the US as early as next week.

The training programme is reportedly expected to take “several months”.