War in Ukraine: A Russian Su-35 aircraft was shot down Sunday night over the Black Sea
The Ukrainian Air Force has reported that a Russian Su-35 aircraft was shot down over the Black Sea on Sunday night. At the same time, Russia is most likely trying to set up a new "elite" attack aviation group, codenamed "Storm". Meanwhile, the Russian-occupied Zaporozhye nuclear power plant has been disconnected from the electricity grid again. It happened because of the disruption of the Dneprovskaya high-voltage power line, connected to a power plant in the Dnipro region under intense attack by Moscow troops.
Twenty "Shaheed" drones and four cruise missiles were destroyed last night by Ukraine's air defences. According to Kiev authorities, the Russians launched a total of 16 missiles of various types. At least 8 people were injured in the Dnipropetrovsk region. This region has been heavily shelled, with attacks targeting homes and critical infrastructure. Three State Emergency Service buildings were damaged, which is a serious violation of Geneva Convention rules, say the Ukrainian authorities.
Several buildings of the rescue unit were damaged. Two fires that broke out were extinguished. More than 20 pieces of rescue service equipment were damaged and several cars, trucks and vehicles were destroyed. The Zaporojie power station was left without electricity due to damage to the supply network. The plant's back-up diesel generators were switched on to temporarily ensure minimal plant operation. According to the invaders, reconnection of this power line is underway. At the same time, Rosatom noted that "the radiation level in the plant is within normal limits". This is the seventh time this huge nuclear complex has been disconnected from the power grid since it was occupied by the Russians on 4 March 2022. The previous outage, which took place in early March, was caused by a wave of Russian missile attacks, according to Ukrainian state-owned operator Energoatom. External power was restored after a few hours.
Meanwhile, fighting continues in southern and eastern Ukraine. Bahmut risks turning into a trap for the Russian army, while attackers claim to have taken control of the disputed city in the fiercest fighting since the war began.
"There are no Ukrainian soldiers in Bahmut because we have stopped taking prisoners. There are a large number of corpses of Ukrainian servicemen. Bahmut has been completely conquered," said the head of mercenaries "Wagner", Yevgeny Prigozhin.
For their part, Ukrainian military officials, as well as President Volodimir Zelenski, deny reports of the occupation of Bahmut, saying the Ukrainian army is still fighting Russian forces and has advanced on some segments. At the same time, British intelligence says Russia is creating a new elite air group for attacks on Ukraine. According to the British report, the group called "Shtorm" will include at least one squadron of Su-24 and Su-34 fighter-bombers, as well as a squadron of attack helicopters. The initiative came shortly after Moscow lost two fighter jets and two or three helicopters. But Russia's darkest day in aviation is shrouded in mystery and the circumstances of the downing of the five aircraft are unclear, and the Russian media has not written anything about the incidents.
