Ukrainian MiG-29 Fighter Jet Destroyed in Russian Missile Strike: Video

Russia released footage on Thursday purportedly showing the moment its forces destroyed a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet after striking an airfield with a ballistic missile.

In footage shown on X via @halsamorsan, formerly Twitter, the fighter jet and other military equipment and vehicles were seemingly destroyed at the base in Dolgintsevo near Kryvyi Rih in south-central Ukraine. They had been struck by an Iskandar ballistic missile, Russia's Defense Ministry said on Telegram.

"A MiG-29 combat plane of the Ukrainian armed forces, as well as air-to-surface weapons and vehicles of the aviation engineering service were destroyed," the ministry said. It released aerial footage that shows a target being struck from a distance, causing an explosion and a column of smoke to rise in the air.

Newsweek couldn't independently verify Russia's claim, or when or where the footage was filmed, and has contacted Ukrainian authorities for comment via email.

Ukraine's air force had around 24 MiG-29 jets in operation by the end of last year; this was according to the U.K.-based think tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Newsweek previously reported.

Both Russia and Ukraine have lost a substantial number of aircraft throughout the war in Ukraine. Kyiv claimed to have downed a number of Soviet-era Russian Su-25s last month. Ukraine has frequently targeted Russian air bases, saying they are legitimate military targets in the war.

On Tuesday, Russia's Defense Ministry said it destroyed multiple Ukrainian fighter jets at Myrhorod air base, which is located in the Ukraine's Poltava region southwest of the border regions of Sumy and Kharkiv.

Five of Ukraine's operational Su-27 fighter jets were destroyed in the attack, and a further two that had been undergoing repairs were damaged, the ministry said.

Open source intelligence (OSINT) analysts gave more modest figures, saying that two fighter jets were destroyed and four damaged. Ukraine confirmed the attack, without elaborating on how many fighter jets had been destroyed.

"There was a strike. There are certain losses, but not at all like the ones the enemy is claiming," Yuriy Ignat, a former spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, said on Facebook.

"The Air Force is doing everything it can to counter the enemy, mislead the enemy, including through mockups and other means," Ignat added.

Dutch OSINT defense analysis website Oryx has visually confirmed that 107 Russian aircraft have been destroyed and 12 damaged since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Oryx has also visually confirmed that 90 Ukrainian aircraft have been destroyed since the beginning of the war, with three damaged and one captured.

Kyiv's military said in an update on Thursday that Moscow had lost so far 360 aircraft in the war. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, which posts daily figures on Russia's troop and equipment losses, added that Russia has lost a total of 547,470 troops.

Russia's Ministry of Defense said in an update on Monday that its forces have so far destroyed 625 Ukrainian aircraft in the war.

Newsweek couldn't independently verify the figures, as both Russia and Ukraine rarely share information on the number of casualties or equipment losses they have sustained in the war.

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