Strana 40
Ukrainian Losses
Ukraine suffered four known losses during
the period under review. Two of them were
particularly serious, because a total of five
Ukrainian pilots were killed.
On Monday, December 8, a Su-27 fighter
crashed during a combat mission in eastern
Ukraine. It is possible that it was shot down by
a Russian missile. Lieutenant Colonel Yevhen
Ivanov, who was piloting it, was killed. News
of his death was reported by the 39th Tactical
Aviation Brigade, of which he was a member.
During a combat mission on Wednesday,
December 17, a Ukrainian Army Aviation Mi-24
helicopter was also lost. The aircraft with tail
number 292 belonged to the 12th Army Aviation
Brigade. Four airmen were on board; one of
them was identified as Lieutenant Colonel
Oleksandr Shemet. The Mi-24 has cockpit
space for two crew members, so the remaining
two must have been in the cabin in the
fuselage. Their task was most likely to operate
weapons installed in the side windows. The
helicopter was on a mission against Russian
drones, and machine guns in the side windows
could increase its chances of shooting down as
many unmanned vehicles as possible. However,
it collided with one drone and subsequently
crashed near the village of Kovray Druhyi in
the Cherkasy region. No one on board survived
the crash.
Details of this incident are not known. During
the period under review, however, the number
of cases in which Russian drones attempted
to defend themselves against being shot down
increased. First, cameras began to appear
on Shahed/Geran drones. These allowed the
drones to detect when a Ukrainian helicopter
or aircraft was approaching. Thanks to the
cameras, they could not only evade, but there
were also cases in which a Russian drone
attempted to ram a Ukrainian aircraft. Whether
this also happened in the case of the Mi-24
crash is not known.
Shahed/Geran drones, however, are also
trying to defend themselves using missiles.
During the monitored period, a drone carrying
an R-60 missile was shot down. These short-
range air-to-air missiles have not had much
use in the war in Ukraine. Enemy aircraft simply
do not get close enough to each other to deploy
them. The Ukrainians therefore began to use
them against drones, including in a surface-to-
air role. The Russians have now started using
R-60 missiles to defend their drones. Later,
these missiles also appeared on a new version
of the Shahed/Geran drone equipped with a jet
engine. As can be seen, Russia is constantly
trying to improve its arsenal, which it uses
primarily to attack civilian targets. During
the winter period, these are mainly elements
of energy infrastructure, whose destruction
deprives the civilian population of electricity
and heating.
The last confirmed Ukrainian losses
were published on Monday, December 29, in
a Russian drone video. Although “confirmed”
is a relative term… The Russians were clearly
trying to imitate the successful Ukrainian
attacks on their airbases. They attacked
a forward base near Zachepylivka in the
Poltava region and the international airport
in Mykolaiv. At the first location they hit a Mi-
24 helicopter, and at the second a transport
aircraft Antonov An-26. According to some
sources, however, the helicopter that was hit
was only a decoy (which cannot be verified).
What can be verified, however, is that the
An-26 has not moved from its position since
February 2022, and it was therefore certainly
a decommissioned aircraft.
Lieutenant Colonel Yevhen Ivanov was killed
on December 8 when a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter
was shot down.
Lieutenant Colonel
Oleksandr Shemet
was one of the four
Ukrainian airmen
who died on December 17
in a Mi-24 helicopter crash.
Wreckage of a downed Russian
Geran drone that had been armed
with an R-60 missile.
UKRAINE
INFO Eduard40
February 2026