British navy intelligence officers on Friday mentioned it was “very likely” that Ukraine shot down a Russian fighter-bomber with a surface-to-air missile this week over the northwestern Black Sea within the neighborhood of Ukraine’s Snake Island.

Russia has continued to conduct high-risk strike missions towards Snake Island for the reason that summer season of 2023. While it has an space of lower than half a mile, the rocky outcrop is strategically positioned on the southern boundary of Ukraine’s territorial waters within the Black Sea.

The island was captured by Russian navy forces on the primary day of the invasion in February 2022. Moscow managed Snake Island till late June when it retreated in what was thought-about a serious coup for Ukraine.

Russia nonetheless flies missions towards Snake Island utilizing plane such because the Sukhoi Su-24 that was shot down on Tuesday, U.Ok. officers mentioned.

“The island has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance and Russia wants to demonstrate it can project force across the Black Sea,” British officers mentioned on X of their newest evaluation of the battlefield in Ukraine.

The two-man crew of the Su-24, designated as “Fencer” by NATO, was probably misplaced, British officers mentioned. The location and circumstances within the space would make a profitable search and rescue operation by Russia “extremely challenging.”

“Both sides still suffer regular combat aircraft losses,” U.Ok. navy officers mentioned. “Overall, air defenses continue to limit the effectiveness of tactical air operations.”

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