Russia says it shot down a Ukrainian transport plane carrying Western weapons

According to a Russian statement, a Ukrainian military transport plane was shot down in the air over the Odesa region while transferring a large amount of weapons supplied to Ukraine by Western countries.

Earlier, a White House official told CNN on April 16 that shipments from President Joe Biden’s latest security assistance package to Ukraine were “coming soon”.

President Biden this week approved an additional $800 million aid package of weapons, ammunition and security assistance to Ukraine.

Firefighters put out a fire at the Lysychansk Oil Refinery after being hit by a missile in the Luhansk region, Ukraine on April 16. Photo: Reuters

The United States agreed for the first time to provide Kiev with highly combat-capable weapons that some Biden administration officials a few weeks ago deemed too large for the risk of an escalation, including 11 Mi helicopters. -17, 18 Howitzer 155 mm cannon and 300 Switchblade drones.

On April 15, a senior defense official told CNN that the first flight of weapons and equipment is expected to arrive in the region in the next 24 hours and will be received by Ukrainians at the border and brought into this country. The $800 million shipment brings the total amount of military assistance the US provides to Ukraine to more than $3 billion.

According to the radio CNBCUkraine’s defense service announced that about 20,100 Russian servicemen were killed in the military operation in this Eastern European country.

The agency added that Russia has also lost more than 163 aircraft, 762 tanks, 1,982 armored vehicles and 66 air defense combat systems since the military operation began on February 24.

More than three weeks ago, NATO estimated 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers were killed, while Moscow has not updated its casualties since last month after reporting about 1,351 soldiers died in the war.