Russian aviation has drastically reduced the use of guided bombs in the south after Ukrainian air defense destroyed enemy Su-34 fighter-bombers.

The Operational Command South announced this in the morning report.

Thus, over the past day, Russians carried out one air strike using 4 guided bombs on Krynky on the left bank of the Kherson region.

They also fired one Kh-59 guided missile that had been sent in the direction of Kropyvnytskyi, but was destroyed by air defense forces.

This is three times less than the day before. Then, Russians carried out three air strikes using 15 guided bombs on settlements on left and right banks of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region.

A drastical decrease in the use of Russian aircraft to strike Ukraine in the south comes after the Ukrainian military claimed on Friday, December 22, that its air defense had shot down three Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers.

According to Yurii Ihnat, Spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, Russians were “totally insolent” and wanted to fly closer to strike with guided bombs to penetrate the Ukrainian defense.

Ihnat noted that Russian pilots were caught off guard, and “the operation was carried out at lightning speed and gracefully.”

However, it is worth noting that unconfirmed information about the downing of one Su-35 fighter and two Su-34 fighter-bombers is circulating online.

Subsequently, photos of a Russian Mi-8/17 search-and-rescue helicopter and the landing site of downed pilots appeared on social media.

Russian propagandists indirectly confirmed the shootdown of at least one aircraft, saying that living and dead crew members were found and evacuated to the temporarily occupied territory.

The invaders claim that the preliminary reason for the shootdown of aircraft is the use of the Patriot SAM system by the Ukrainian military. These assumptions have not been officially confirmed.