Ukrainian pilots flying Western fighter jets F-16 and Mirage shot down several dozen Russian aerial targets during a combined large-scale Russian attack on the night of 23-24 April.

Source: Colonel Yurii Ihnat, Head of the Communications Department of the Ukrainian Air Force Command, on the national joint 24/7 newscast

Quote: "The commander of the Air Force praised the work of our tactical aircraft. In particular, F-16 and Mirage pilots delivered quite good results today: several dozen aerial targets were shot down by our Ukrainian pilots. These included cruise missiles and Shahed drones.

Of course, both Mirage and F-16 aircraft, as well as the still-used Soviet-era fleet, can shoot down targets flying on aerodynamic trajectories – these are cruise missiles and drones. Unfortunately, aircraft cannot intercept ballistic missiles, which is why our Patriot system handles them."

Details: Ihnat added that the effectiveness of Western aircraft in repelling Russian air attacks is quite high.

Background:On the night of 23-24 April, Russian forces launched 215 missiles of various types and drones on Ukraine, with the main impact falling on the city of Kyiv. Ukrainian air defence units shot down 112 Russian aerial targets, namely 7 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, 31 Kh-101 cruise missiles, 6 Kalibr missiles, 4 Kh-59/Kh-69 air-to-surface missiles and 64 Shahed loitering munitions.

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