A pair of MiG-29s was shot down in the southern part of the country, the Defense Ministry says
Russian fighter jets have shot down two Ukrainian MiG-29 warplanes modified to fire US-made anti-radar weapons, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday.
According to the ministry, the planes that were intercepted in Ukraine’s southern Nikolaev Region were capable of carrying AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) that are used to destroy radar stations on the ground.
The ministry reported that 12 Ukrainian drones were shot down, and 21 missiles, mostly from US-supplied HIMARS launchers, were intercepted mid-air.
The news comes as Ukraine’s Kherson Region and large parts of neighboring Zaporozhye Region, both controlled by Russian troops, are holding five-day referendums on joining Russia. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), which broke away from Ukraine in the wake of the 2014 coup in Kiev, are also…