National guardsmen shoot down Russian Su-24 using MANPADS near Bakhmut
National Guardsmen have shot down another Su-24 aircraft in the battle for Bakhmut.
Source: Eastern Operational and Territorial Unit of the National Guard
Details: On 13 February, a fireteam from an anti-aircraft missile and artillery division hit a Su-24 fighter jet launching a single missile from a distance of two kilometres.
At 18:03, National Guardsmen shot down a Russian Su-24 aircraft near Bakhmut that was attacking Ukrainian military positions and civilian settlements.
The guardsmen downed the Russian aircraft using a Piorun man-portable air-defence system.
"The guys hit the target with the first shot. The attack aircraft caught fire and then began to descend behind the line of contact, the fate of the pilots is unknown," the division commander with call sign 'Partizan' noted.
It is reported that the Russian Su-24 was shot down by a conscript, private Maksym Baluta, who had previously shot down the first Russian aircraft in Kharkiv Oblast on 6 March 2022.
The Spartan Brigade's MANPADS unit shot down five aerial targets on the Bakhmut front in less than a month. However, the Russians are not stopping their offensive on the Bakhmut front, despite sustaining heavy losses.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has reported that the Russian occupying forces have lost 298 aircraft in the war against Ukraine from 24 February 2022 to 14 February 2023.
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