http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ft-408446/
The Ukrainian ministry of defence claims it managed to destroy a number of aircraft held by separatists during two days of fighting in January.
Confirming that the allegedly Russia-backed separatists possessed such aircraft following media speculation,
the Ukrainian MoD announced on 27 January that a number of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft were destroyed,
in addition to four tanks, nine armoured vehicles and some rocket launchers.
The aircraft included one Aero L-39 Albatros, two Antonov An-2s, one Yakovlev Yak-52, two Yak-50s and four Mil Mi-24 helicopters.
“Terrorists have suffered a loss of manpower and equipment,” the MoD says.
The fighting was believed to have taken place in Verbovaya Balka, near Donetsk, on 26-27 January.
It was previously rumoured that Moscow would provide the separatists with aircraft and pilots, although the Kremlin maintains that it has no connection with the militants advancing throughout Ukraine in the name of Russian sovereignty.
http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv-po ... 78628.html
Emergence of Kremlin-backed separatist air force may open way for covert Russian air invasion
Jan. 27, 2015, 7:48 p.m
Ukrainian authorities officially confirmed for the first time on Jan. 27 that Russian-backed troops in Donbas have an air force.
Speculation about the possible emergence of a separatist air force has been going on for months.
Analysts have predicted that Kremlin-backed mercenaries and insurgents would get aircraft and possibly pilots from Russia and camouflage them as their own air force, dramatically boosting their military capability.
The Defense Ministry said Ukrainian troops had destroyed one separatist L-39 military trainer aircraft, two An-2 agricultural aircraft, one Yak-52 trainer airplane and four Mi-24 military helicopters.
Borys Filatov, a member of the Verkhovna Rada, wrote on Facebook that the aircraft had been destroyed by Uragan multiple rocket launchers in the village of Verbovaya Balka near Donetsk.
This was done to “prevent them from fooling around and thinking of getting (aircraft) from Mordor,” he said, referring to the popular nickname for Russia derived from J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels.
He also said the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic also used to have an air force but it had been eradicated by Ukrainian troops.
Russia’s LifeNews site reported earlier that the republic’s first aircraft took off on Jan. 17. The leadership of the Luhansk People’s Republic said on Jan. 19 that they had created an air force.
Kremlin-backed troops’ takeover of Luhansk Airport in September 2014 and their ongoing attempts to seize Donetsk Airport have been attributed by analysts to their desire to use them as military air fields.
However, these airports have been heavily damaged by fighting and are unlikely to be used for aircraft.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities said last year that Russian military aircraft had crossed the border into Ukraine several times.
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