Ukraine has destroyed more than 270 Russian aircraft over eight months of fighting, according to the country’s commander-in-chief, surpassing the number the Soviet Union lost in its military intervention in Afghanistan.
Though general Valeriy Zaluzhny’s statement could not be verified independently, his claim matches up with narratives of Ukraine’s soaring record of success on the battlefield, having reclaimed swathes of critical territory back from Russian occupiers of late.
Despite many in Ukraine living under the shroud of rolling blackouts and water shortages as a result of Russia’s attacks on a reported 40 per cent of the country’s energy infrastructure, its people continue to be emboldened by the country’s momentum in its counter-offensive against Moscow.
With the help of military equipment provided by its Western allies, Ukraine is now mounting pressure on Russian occupation forces in the south.
“During the full-scale aggression, (Ukrainian) defenders destroyed (more than) twice as many (Russian) aircraft as the Soviet Union lost during the 10-year war in Afghanistan - 278 (Russian) aircraft in Ukraine against 118 Soviet aircraft in Afghanistan,” General Zaluzhny wrote on Twitter.
“This war is the same shame for Russia & will cause its destruction,” he wrote.
More than three decades after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the military campaign continues to face ferocious criticism by many Russians as a bloody foreign adventure akin to the US war in Vietnam.
Around 14,000 Soviet troops were killed in its 10-year war in Afghanistan. Many were repatriated in zinc coffins known as Cargo 200, a term that is now being widely used for Russian soldiers killed during the war that Russia launched in Ukraine.
Since it began, each side has said it has inflicted huge casualties on the other, but those numbers are seen as significantly inflated.
Ukraine says 74,000 Russian soldiers have been killed. Russia’s defence minister said in September that 61,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed.
As the colder months draw ever closer, the G7 said it would commence its winter aid programme for Ukraine in the face ofRussian attacks on its energy infrastructure.
“We will not allow lots of people - the elderly, children, teenagers, families - to die from hunger or cold over the upcoming winter months due to the brutal tactics of the Russian president,” German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, who is hosting the meeting, told reporters.
