March 5 is considered the heaviest day of losses for both Russian and Ukrainian air forces on the battlefield since Moscow launched a military operation.
Both Russia and Ukraine announced that they had caused the enemy’s air force to suffer the heaviest losses since the beginning of the war between the two countries.
If in the first days of the war, the image of the enemy’s damage was mainly tanks and armored vehicles, on March 5 alone, huge losses were recorded for the two sides’ air forces.
As the Russian Army ramps up the use of air power to support ground fire, the Ukrainian air defenses have shown how prepared they are for this situation.
From the morning of March 5 to the afternoon of the same day, the Ukrainian press continuously updated information as well as images of Russian fighter planes and helicopters shot down across the battlefields.
As of the end of March 5, according to the data of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Russian Air Force has lost 1 front-line bomber Su-34, 1 multi-role fighter Su-30SM, 2 attack aircraft Su-25, 2 Mi-35 armed helicopters, 1 Mi-8 multi-purpose transport helicopter and 1 Orlan-10 reconnaissance UAV.
The Ukrainian side has provided very detailed images to demonstrate, in which the highlight is the moment a Man-portable air-defense missile knocks down a Russian Mi-35 attack helicopter.
The wreckage of the downed Russian plane or the captured pilot are all published in quite detail by the Ukrainian press, showing the very high authenticity of the information.
There are two factors that need to be emphasized, the first is the sudden increase in the number of Russian planes crashing right after the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said it received intelligence data on the activities of the Russian Air Force in real time.
Second, Ukraine’s weapons have proven very effective. It should be remembered that Russian fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters when operating in the sky over Ukraine carry infrared missile detector jammers that have undergone many tests with perfect results.
On the other hand, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the country’s Aerospace Forces conducted an air battle in the Zhytomyr region, shooting down four Ukrainian warplanes at once.
Accordingly, Russian fighters shot down 4 Su-27s of the Ukrainian Air Force, the air battle took place in the Zhytomyr region, no details were given.
In addition, the Russian air defense systems also worked perfectly, shooting down a Ukrainian Su-25, a helicopter and a Bayraktar TB2 drone.
So if the above information is correct, this is the day that the Ukrainian Air Force suffered the heaviest losses since the war, what’s worse is that their number of aircraft is much less than Russia’s.
However, while the Ukrainian side provided quite a lot of pictures and videos, Russia did not provide any evidence to prove it, so the reliability is in doubt.
