Dramatic footage of two Russian fighter pilots ejecting from their Sukhois moments before it was shot down by Ukrainians has emerged. The footage is believed to be from Balakliya, in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine.
The footage from Balakliya, an important railway junction, surfaced within hours of reports about Kremlin launching a fresh attack on the war torn country by shelling its five train stations.
Pilots Rescued by Russians
The video shared on social media platforms show two Russian Su-34 pilots parachuting out of their plane as it spirals out of control before hitting the ground.
The Daily Mail reported that the fighter plane, which was on a bombing mission, was taken down by Ukrainians using a surface-to-air missile. The footage shows two white parachutes carrying the Russian pilots coming towards the ground. Though the fate of the pilots was not clear, several social media accounts have claimed that they were rescued by a Russian helicopter in an emergency operation, reported the outlet.
The outlet cited a pro-Ukrainian report stating, "Information from eyewitnesses. Two helicopters flew to the area of the hit plane, one of them landed twice. It looks like they took away pilot-killers."
The head of Ukrainian Railways, Alexander Kamyshin, claimed that Russia launched an attack in central and western Ukraine causing a delay of 16 passenger trains on Monday morning. Kamyshin also revealed that the attack was being carried out within an hour of each other.
15,000 Russian Troops Killed So far
Ever since the 'Special Military Operation' was launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the country had lost approximately 15,000 Russian personnel. The Guardian reported that the battle casualty's figure was disclosed by the UK's defense secretary, Ben Wallace, while speaking to the MPs.
"It is our assessment that approximately 15,000 Russian personnel have been killed during their offensive. Alongside the death toll are the equipment losses and in total a number of sources suggest that to date over 2,000 armored vehicles have been destroyed or captured," Wallace said.
"This includes at least 530 tanks, 530 armored personnel carriers and 560 infantry fighting vehicles. Russia has also lost over 60 helicopters and fighter jets. The offensive that was supposed to take a maximum of a week has now taken weeks, added the defense secretary.
