A Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber

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Wednesday’s Coverage: Allies Knock Back Macron’s Suggestion of Troops

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1617 GMT:

The Ukraine General Staff have confirmed that a rocket attack killed 19 Russian troops and wounded 12 as they gathered in an awards ceremony in the Donetsk region.

Confirming reports from Russian sources earlier on Thursday (see 0754 GMT), the General Staff said a US-made HIMARS targeted the Russians in occupied Olenivka. The deputy brigade commander was slain, and the brigade commander wounded.

Military intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov said, “Similar operations will be conducted in the future.”

UPDATE 1427 GMT:

Ukraine shot down two more Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers early Thursday, commander-in-chief Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi has said.

Syrskyi said one was destroyed near Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine and the other near the port city of Mariupol in the southeast.

UPDATE 0946 GMT:

Nine civilians, including a child and a pastor, were killed and 12 wounded by Russian attacks across Ukraine on Wednesday.

In the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine, a 48-year-old man and a 6-year-old girl were slain when Russian guided bombs hit the railway station in the village of Velykyi Burluk. The child’s mother was injured.

In nearby Kupyansk, a Russian airstrike hit a church and a cafe, killing a 58-year-old pastor and a man aged 39.

In the neighboring Donetsk region, Russian attacks killed two civilians and injured four others.

In Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region in south-central Ukraine, a 61-year-old woman was killed amid 12 Russian attacks which damaged 17 homes, 11 commercial buildings, and civil infrastructure.

One person was slain and two injured in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine. Critical infrastructure, an administrative building, and a printing house were struck in Kherson city, and 40 houses, 12 high-rise buildings, and farm buildings were damaged elsewhere in the region.

UPDATE 0754 GMT:

A purported Russian official says Ukrainian forces have carried out another deadly strike on a concentration of Russian personnel at an awards ceremony.

In a Telegram post, the Russian — who claimed to be an employee of an unspecified branch of Russian special services — said a US-made HIMARS rocket struck troops of the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade on Tuesday night. The men had gathered for the ceremony in Olenivka in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

Nineteen personnel were killed, the poster said, including the deputy brigade commander, a major, and a captain. Anoter 12 were wounded, including brigade commander Col. Mikhail Gudkov.

Scores of Russian troops were slain in similiar circumstances on February 20 in Donetsk and on February 22 in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

A Russian military blogger said “these are no longer isolated mistakes”, with Ukraine deliberately striking the gatherings in a “clinical” manner.

UPDATE 0749 GMT:

Ukraine’s special forces have confirmed the deaths of several personnel in a battle on the Tendra Spit in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

The statement indicated the victims had stayed behind to ensure the main contingent escaped.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukrainian air defenses have downed an 11th Russian warplane within two weeks.

The Su-34 fighter-bomber was shot down over eastern Ukraine on Tuesday morning, according to Ukraine Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk.

Today, February 29, is a date that occurs once every four years, but it is yet another day, to which the Russians have grown used to, when they lose yet another warplane.

Minus Su-34 in the Eastern direction!

Since the start of the year, Ukraine has been far more effective in intercepting the Russian warplanes as they carried out missile attacks and covered Moscow’s forces in eastern Ukraine.

Since February 17, eleven warplanes have been destroyed. Almost all have been Su-34s or Su-35 fighter jets; however, one of Russia’s handful of A-50 early warning and command systems was also downed.

As Russia is trying to occupy more territory in the east and south of the country, Oleshchuk said, “Victory on land is being forged in the sky!”