Strana 29
February 2025
Ukraine received another type of Western
fighter jet—the French Mirage 2000-5F. This
purely fighter version with a high-quality
radar was modified for Ukrainian needs to
carry guided air-to-ground weapons. Initially,
Ukraine received only three of these aircraft,
but even that expanded the capabilities of the
Ukrainian Air Force.
March 2025
With the support of North Korean soldiers,
Russian forces managed to push Ukrainian
troops out of the Kursk region, where they
had been since August 2024. Russian aviation
experienced one of its black days this month,
losing one Su-25 in an accident on March
24, 2025, and four helicopters destroyed by
HIMARS rockets at a forward base. The first
recorded engagement between a Ukrainian
F-16 and a Russian Su-35 also occurred,
ending inconclusively with no losses.
April 2025
On Palm Sunday, April 13, two Iskander-M
ballistic missiles with cluster warheads struck
busy streets in the city of Sumy, full of people
heading to churches. The result was 35 dead
and 129 injured—the worst attack on Ukrainian
civilians since 2023. The day before, April 12,
Ukraine lost an F-16 along with its pilot, Captain
Pavlo Ivanov. The aircraft was hit by Russian
air defense. This was the second Ukrainian Air
Force F-16 loss.
May 2025
Ukraine lost another F-16, the third overall.
It happened on the night of May 16 during
combat with Russian cruise missiles. The pilot
destroyed three and was attacking a fourth
with the onboard cannon when the fighter
was likely struck by debris. This time, the pilot
successfully ejected and survived.
For the first time in history,
Ukrainians managed to shoot down
supersonic fighters using missiles
launched from a naval drone. This
occurred on the night of May 2, when
Magura V7 drones using AIM-9X
Sidewinder missiles shot down two
Russian Su-30 aircraft.
In February 2026, it was confirmed for the first time that Ukraine had begun using its Mirage 2000-5F aircraft
for ground attacks with AASM Hammer guided bombs.
On Friday, February 27, 2026, Russian aviation dropped 328 guided glide bombs on Ukrainian positions—
the highest number in a single day so far. The previous record was on October 17, 2025, when 268 such
bombs were dropped. Their primary carrier is the Su-34.
A Ukrainian Gepard marked with symbols representing downed Shahed drones.
UKRAINE
INFO Eduard
29
April 2026