Ukrainian sea drones equipped with modified American-made missiles shot down two Russian jet fighters, in what Kyiv said is the first such attack in history, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
The Russian Su-30 jets were flying near the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk when they were shot down by Magura-7 sea drones deployed by Ukraine's military-intelligence agency (HUR), Ukraine's military said.
Kyiv said that the missile used to hit the Russian jets on Friday was a U.S.-made infrared-guided AIM-9, which Ukraine has received from the United States and Canada. In addition, Kyiv had earlier said on Dec. 31 that it had shot down two Russian helicopters using missiles fired from sea drones.
The incident on Friday illustrates the threat Ukraine poses to Russia through the innovation of its military-industrial complex, even as the country struggles with not enough manpower and weapons against a much larger army.
The attack, which comes amid a slowdown in American-lead efforts to end the war, also attempts to challenge Moscow's claim that its victory over Ukraine is inevitable, and that the U.S. and other Ukrainian allies should push Kyiv to surrender, according to the Journal.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the operation as "brilliant" and "a testament to Ukraine's capabilities" in what Kyiv said was the first instance of a combat aircraft downed by a marine drone.
A video that HUR posted showed what appeared through the lens of a shaky camera to be a distant object bursting into flames above the sea and then plummeting into the choppy waters.
The crew of one Russian plane was rescued from the waters by a commercial vessel, while those on board the second plane did not survive, HUR chief Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov told the news site the War Zone.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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