Ukrainian Patriot downed 5 Russian aircraft in 5 minutes in May 2023, Air Force confirms
Ukraine's Air Force destroyed three Russian warplanes and five helicopters over Bryansk Oblast of the Russian Federation in May 2023, and another plane over the Black Sea later using the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system, reported Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat in an interview with Novynarnia.
The journalist noted that on May 13, the Russian military lost at least one Su-34 and one Su-35 fighter, two rare Mi-8MTPR-1 electronic warfare helicopters, and another Mi-8 in Bryansk Oblast.
"It was a brilliant operation under the leadership of the commander of the Air Force [Mykola Oleshchuk]. Thanks to non-standard decisive actions, the Patriot air defense units in five minutes immediately destroyed five aircraft on the Bryansk axis, from where they bombarded our northern regions with guided aerial bombs at the time. I call it jokingly the 'Bryansk massacre'," said Ihnat.
Also, the spokesperson of the Air Force reported that another Su-35 was shot down from the Patriot over the Black Sea, which happened "some time later" after the events in Russia's Bryansk Oblast.
"And after that, they [the Russians] stopped flying there for a while, because they realized that it is dangerous there, they can be shot down. The Patriot complex presents such possibilities!" he remarked.
On July 3 , in a video from the Ministry of Defense on the occasion of the Day of Anti-Aircraft Missile Troops of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, one of the frames shows the side of a machine from the Patriot air defense system with the targets shot down on May 13, when the "fall" of air equipment took place in Bryansk Oblast of the Russian Federation.
On May 16, 2023, reports appeared that the administration of the Starodub district of Bryansk Oblast is looking for the body of the pilot of a warplane that "crashed on May 13" (namely the Su-34), and is asking local residents for help.
Russian television was silent about the fall of helicopters and warplanes of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in Bryansk Oblast.
