The downed aircraft was providing air cover for a failed Kiev’s landing operation, RIA Novosti has reported

The Russian forces have stopped Kiev’s troops from crossing the Dnieper River in the Kherson region and shot down one of the two Su-25 strike fighters providing air cover for the Ukrainian landing operation, RIA Novosti reported on Monday, citing a source “familiar with the situation.”

“Another attempted … landing operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has failed,” the source told the news agency, adding that Kiev’s troops sought to cross the river near the village of Babino, some 124 kilometers away from the strategic town of Novaya Kakhovka, which had a dam on Dnieper that also served as a bridge before being seriously damaged in the Ukrainian strikes.

During the clashes near Babino, the Russian troops managed to shoot down a Su-25 strike fighter, the source said, adding that the aircraft fell in the territory controlled by the Ukrainian forces. The second strike fighter then flew away, leaving the landing party without air cover, the source said.

Kiev has not commented on these reports. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry mentioned neither the failed landing operation nor the presumably downed aircraft in its Monday evening public statement. Instead, it said that the “situation … on the Kherson front has not seen any particular changes.”

READ MORE: VIDEO shows Russian forces repelling Ukrainian offensive

The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment on the situation either. The news came as the Russian troops successfully repelled a major Ukrainian offensive in the southern part of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Kiev’s troops, which deployed six mechanized and two tank battalions there, lost up to 300 service members, 16 tanks, 26 armored and 14 ordinary vehicles in the botched operation, the ministry said in a statement.

Later on Monday, the Russian ministry also published a video of the Ukrainian heavy equipment, supplied by the Western nations, being destroyed by Russian strikes.

Source: RT