Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 3 that Ukraine's military destroyed a second Russian military aircraft within a 24-hour time period, having struck a military airfield in occupied Crimea.
The strike follows the downing of a Russian Su-30 fighter jet earlier on May 3 by a sea drone, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) said. The attack marked the "world's first destruction of a combat aircraft by a naval drone," HUR claimed.
The multi-role Su-30 fighter, valued at approximately $50 million, was reportedly hit in midair and crashed into the sea.
"I thank our guys who are increasing Ukrainian long-range capabilities – both in the sky and at sea. The shooting down of a Russian military aircraft by our naval drone was brilliant – proof of Ukrainian capabilities," Zelensky said during his evening address.
Zelensky did not provide additional information on the newly destroyed aircraft, only adding that military depots were also destroyed in the attack. Ukraine's military has not publicly released details on the attack.
Ukraine launched a series of drone attack towards occupied Crimea on May 3, with Russia's Air Force claiming it had intercepted 89 drones over the region, as well as another 23 drones over the Black Sea.
Kyiv regularly launches drone and missile attacks towards occupied Crimea, a region that Moscow annexed in the midst of the EuroMaidan revolution of 2014.
Anna Fratsyvir
(Updated: )
