Wagner destroyed seven Russian aircraft during Prigozhin's rebellion — Air Force

During the rebellion of Wagner PMC leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, his militants destroyed seven Russian aircraft after launching preemptive strikes against them, the spokesman for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ihnat said on national television on June 25.

Wagner units allegedly shot down one warplane, two combat helicopters and four transport aircraft. The Ukrainian officer said Prigozhin's mercenaries realized that Russian aviation was capable of breaking up their military convoys quickly and effectively.

"This is probably what the (mercenaries) were afraid of, and therefore they preventively destroyed what was in the sky," Ihnat said.

“Aviation today can break up a column on the march very quickly.”

Read also: Videos of fighting between Wagner and regime troops pop up on social media

The day before, the OSINT project Oryx recorded that the Russian military had lost an Il-22 aircraft, two electronic warfare helicopters, and one Mi-35 helicopter. The media also reported the downing of an An-24 aircraft over the Russian city of Voronezh.

Prigozhin announced his "march on Moscow" and the beginning of the armed conflict with the Russian Defense Ministry on the evening of June 23, allegedly after the Russian army struck the mercenaries' "rear camp."

On the evening of June 24, the leader of Wagner Group announced that he was "turning back the columns" that, according to him, were 200 km away from Moscow because his fighters allegedly did not want to "shed Russian blood."

The press service of the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claimed that he had allegedly been negotiating with Prigozhin all day, and the latter agreed to "stop the movement through the territory of Russia," and his militants were promised "security guarantees" in return.

The Kremlin said that the case on Prigozhin's armed rebellion would be closed, the Wagner units would return to the "rear camps," and Prigozhin himself would go to Belarus.

Read also:

• SBU charges Prigozhin associate for launching propaganda channel in occupied Kherson

• Prigozhin vows to ‘end’ Shoigu, FSB charges Wagner with ‘inciting insurrection’ – updated

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine