Putin Presents Russian Military Aviation With Icon After They Lost Seven Aircraft In One Week

To do this, he came to the Chkalovsky airfield.

The head of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, presented the main command of the Russian Aerospace Forces with a copy of the icon “Savior Not-Made-by-Hands,” The Moscow Times reports.

The President of the Russian Federation also presented state awards to military units of the Aerospace Forces. To do this, he came to the Chkalovsky airfield.

Ukraine's armed forces have shot down six Russian fighter jets over the past three days, including a Su-34 fighter-bomber and a Su-35 fighter, the country's Defense Ministry reported.

Another downed plane became known today — in the morning of February 21, a Su-34 bomber was shot down. In total, according to the Ukrainian side, Moscow has lost 336 aircraft since the start of the invasion in February 2022.

In January, it was reported that Ukraine shot down an A-50 spy plane over the Sea of Azov. The A-50 is a military modification of the Il-76, which is capable of monitoring the situation in the airspace and detecting air and ground targets in order to direct its aircraft at them. The Russian army may have 11 of these aircraft, each costing up to $500 million.

In total, according to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, about 40 Su-34s and 10 Su-35s were shot down during the war. The last aircraft could be from a new batch that entered Russian service in November, said military expert and former employee of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Stupak. In his opinion, downed fighters affect the “psychological ability” of Russian pilots to carry out combat missions, as well as the positions of the Ukrainian military, which will no longer “be bombarded by these big bombs.”