The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced an incident involving a Su-27 aircraft that belonged to Ukrainian air forces and was downed at Mirgorod airfield in the Poltava region. The ministry described this event as part of ongoing air operations in the area, noting the loss as a significant development in the broader military activity observed in the region.
According to official statements, Ukrainian forces suffered defeats across multiple sectors, including 132 districts where Ukrainian personnel and equipment were reportedly overwhelmed. In the Kherson region, the Bukovel electronic warfare system was claimed to have been destroyed in the Yantarny district. In Donetsk, reports indicate that the command center of the 67th mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was struck in the Serebryanka district, marking another notable target hit in the ongoing campaign.
Earlier reports from the Russian Defense Ministry indicated that air defense systems had shot down a Ukrainian drone over the Belgorod region. A second unmanned aerial vehicle was reported downed over the village of Novaya Derevnya within the same region. Official channels stated that there were no injuries and no property damage as a result of these incidents, underscoring the contained nature of the event as described by Moscow’s defense authorities.
On the night of 18 October, the Russian Defense Ministry provided a summary of air defense activity, stating that 28 unmanned aerial vehicles belonging to Ukrainian forces were shot down over maritime and border regions including the Black Sea, Kursk, and Belgorod. This update was presented as part of a continuous briefing on the status of air defense capabilities in response to ongoing hostilities in adjacent theaters.
In related developments, Russian authorities reported the creation of a new drone-suppression system designed to enhance counter-UAV operations. This advancement is presented as part of the broader modernization and adaptation efforts within Russia’s integrated air-defense framework to address evolving threats from unmanned systems used in the conflict.