MOSCOW. Aug 16 (Interfax) - The Russian Defense Ministry has reported downing a Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-25 plane in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
"Air defense forces destroyed a Su-25 plane of the Ukrainian Air Force near Novotroitskoye in the DPR," Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
An ST-68 radar station for detecting, identifying, and tracking airborne targets was destroyed in the Nikolayev region, he said.
"Tactical and army aircraft [and] missile and artillery forces of the Russian Armed Forces have struck personnel and military hardware in 143 areas over the past 24 hours," Konashenkov said.
A command post of the Ukrainian 72nd Mechanized Brigade was hit in the DPR, he said.
Four HIMARS and two Uragan missiles have been intercepted over the past 24 hours, he said.
Russian forces also destroyed 26 Ukrainian drones in the Kharkov region and in the Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics during this period, he said.
"A total of 459 planes, 246 helicopters, 5,787 unmanned aerial vehicles, 431 air defense missile systems, 11,330 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, 1,144 multiple rocket launcher vehicles, 5,901 field artillery systems and mortars, and 12,267 special military vehicles have been destroyed since the start of the special military operation," Konashenkov said.