Fighter jets shot down: How many planes has Ukraine lost?

Two fighter Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jets were shot down today in the vicinity of the MH17 crash. A timeline of incidents.

|
Vadim Ghirda/AP
A Malaysian air crash investigator takes pictures of wreckage at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, July 22, 2014.

Only six days after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, two Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jets were also shot down in the same vicinity, near the village of Dmytrivka close to the Russian border. Since Ukraine began its anti-terror operations in mid-April, its Air Force has been hit hard, raising questions about the weapons rebels possess – as well as the impact on the capability and size of Ukraine's fleet.

In today's incident, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense statement blamed “pro-Russian terrorists” using antiaircraft missiles (links in Ukrainian). It said that  the two planes were hit despite taking anti-missile maneuvers, and that the pilots ejected, most likely landing on territory “controlled by members of illegal armed groups.” Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told Interfax Ukraine that the two planes were not shot down from Ukrainian territory, implying, as Ukraine has before, that the attack came from Russian territory. Mr. Lysenko said the planes were flying at a height of 5,200 meters (over 17,000 feet).

It is unclear what has happened to the pilots. A ministry spokesperson told the Washington Post that a witness saw one parachute open. The two planes were shot down as the first bodies from MH17 arrived back in Europe. Rebels claimed responsibility, while still denying their involvement in the earlier downing of MH17.

How much can Ukraine handle?

Even before the world’s attention turned to the downing of MH17, the Ukrainian Air Force had lost several planes and helicopters. Below is a timeline of incidents involving planes, based on media reports and Ukrainian government statements.

-April 22July 1, and July 2: Ukrainian planes are hit by fire but manage to land safely.

-June 6: An An-30 surveillance plane was shot down near Slovyansk. Three people are reported dead.

June 14: An Il-76 military transport plane was shot down in Luhansk by a shoulder-fired missile. All 49 people on board are reported dead.

July 14: An-26 military transport plane was shot down. Exact casualties are unknown.

July 16: An Su-25 was shot down. No casualties were reported. Rebels claim to have shot down two Su-25s, but the Ukrainian government says that while a second plane was hit, it landed safely.

July 17: Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is shot down, most likely by an SA-11 missile. All 298 people on board died.

July 23: Two Ukrainian Su-25 shot down by rebels. The status of the pilots is unknown.

Russia has continued to deny that it supplies rebels in Ukraine with the weapons needed to shoot down planes. Yesterday, a senior US intelligence official told reporters that Russia was responsible for “creating the conditions” that led to MH17's downing, but that there was no evidence directly linking the involvement of the Russian government.

Rebel leader Alexander Khodakovsky of the Vostok Battalion, confirmed to Reuters today that rebels did have possession of the BUK missile system  most likely used to shoot down MH17. Mr. Khodakovsky, however, still blamed Ukraine over the incident, saying, "Even if there was a BUK, and even if the BUK was used, Ukraine did everything to ensure that a civilian aircraft was shot down."

IHS Jane’s, a information group that covers the defense industry, reported in June on the weaknesses of Ukraine's Air Force since the country's independence in 1991. And while precise military figures are unknown, several months of military operations against rebels have further debilitated Air Force capabilities.

Ukraine's air force has suffered from chronic underinvestment since the country's independence, with the bulk of its inventory either mothballed or otherwise inoperable.

According to IHS Jane's World Air Forces data, Ukraine still possesses a fleet of 24 Su-24Ms, 36 Su-25s, 45 Su-27s, 20 An-26s and 140 MiG-29s - although 39 of these were captured when Belbeck airbase in Crimea was taken by Russian forces. Estimates of how many of Ukraine's remaining aircraft are actually in operational service, however, range from around half to less than a quarter.

.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Fighter jets shot down: How many planes has Ukraine lost?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2014/0723/Fighter-jets-shot-down-How-many-planes-has-Ukraine-lost
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe