The Russian forces launched Iskander-M missiles to destroy Ukrainian warplanes stationed at Mirgorod airfield in the Poltava region. Ukraine confirmed this information.
According to the Russian Defence Ministry, five Ukrainian Su-27s were destroyed in the strike. Two more fighter jets were damaged.
"The Russian Iskander-M missile launchers carried out a group missile strike targeting the aircraft parking area of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Objective control confirmed the destruction of combat aircraft," the department said.
The infrastructure of the airfield was also damaged. Later, the ministry published a video of the strike.
According to the Izvestia publication, operators of reconnaissance drones were observing the deployment of equipment at the airfield for days. They passed the information to missile forces after a significant number of aircraft had been accumulated at the airfield.
Former speaker of the Ukrainian Air Force Yuri Ignat confirmed the Russian strike on the airfield.
"This is a war, and, unfortunately, there are losses of equipment. I am talking about the enemy strike on the airfield at Mirgorod," he wrote on social media without specifying how many aircraft were lost.
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