Russia says Kyiv lost two MiGs in a day after Ukraine made fun of Moscow’s losses

Russia claims its military forces shot down two Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jets according to an update released by the Russian Ministry of Defense on June 2nd following claims from Kyiv that Ukraine shot down several jets as well. 

"Air defenses downed two MiG-29 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force," the statement by the Russian Ministry of Defense read according to The Russian News Agency (TASS), which quoted the statement in a news report.  

The two Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jets were allegedly shot down by Russian anit-aircraft systems according to a Newsweek report that also wrote about the statement issued by the Russian Defense Minsitry. However, no other details on the incidents were provided. 

The Russian Ministry of Defense provided an update on Ukrainian losses and noted that Ukraine has lost a total of 609 aircraft and 279 helicopters since the Kremlin ordered the full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022. 

Newsweek reported that it could not verify the numbers offered by the Russian Defense Ministry but the Dutch open-source intelligence Oryx can provide some insight into the aircraft and helicopter losses Ukraine has suffered. 

Oryx uses unique photo and video evidence from the war to verify equipment losses in the war for both sides and notes on its website that its estimations are likely low based on the nature of evidence they use to verify losses. 

“This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here,” the open-source intelligence group explained. 

According to Oryx’s latest data on losses for Ukraine as of June 3rd, Ukraine has lost 88 aircraft since the full-scale invasion began with 85 being destroyed and two damaged. A single aircraft had also been captured by Russian forces. 

Ukraine has also lost 46 helicopters since the war began, 42 of which were destroyed while one was damaged and 2 were captured. Kyiv’s verifiable aircraft and helicopter losses were far lower than those proposed by Russia. 

Newsweek reported a separate statement published by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry that claimed its armed forces shot down nine Russian fighter jets in May. “Born to fall cannot fly… 9 Russian jets have proven it in May 2024,” a message posted on X reads. 

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