Two military helicopters and two Russian fighter jets were shot down on Saturday close to the Ukrainian border. The Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters hosted made up a raiding party, and had been “shot down almost simultaneously” in a trap in the Bryansk district, bordering upper east Ukraine, revealed free Russian media source Kommersant.

“According to preliminary data … the fighters were supposed to deliver a missile and bomb attack on targets in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, and the helicopters were there to back them up – among other things to pick up the ‘Su’ crews if they were shot down,” it said. 

In the meantime, footage of what appeared to be a helicopter being shot down over Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, was shared on social media in Russia.

An emergency services official told the state news agency TASS that preliminary information indicated that the engine caught fire before the crash near Klintsy, which is 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border.

It made no mention of a second helicopter or the Su-35.

However, in a video that was uploaded to the Russian pro-war Telegram channel Voyenniy Osvedomitel, a helicopter that was high in the sky went up in flames before plummeting to the ground.

Ukraine, which typically declines to comment on reports of attacks within Russia, did not issue an official response.

However, senior adviser to the Ukrainian president Mykhailo Podolyak referred to the incident as “instant karma” in a tweet.

Al Jazeera reported that in the meantime, Ukraine forces are advancing against Russian troops along parts of the front line near the war-ravaged eastern town of Bakhmut.

“Our soldiers are moving forward in some areas of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower,” Oleksandr Syrskyi, leader of the Ukrainian Ground forces, said via social media on Saturday.

In a retreat that the head of Russia’s Wagner private army referred to as a “rout” rather than a “regrouping,” Russia acknowledged on Friday that its forces had retreated north of the destroyed eastern city of Ukraine.

Al Jazeera reported that Russia’s defense ministry stated in its most recent bulletin that its forces had gained control over another Bakhmut block.

It stated, “the units of the Airborne Forces provided support to the assault units and pinned down the enemy on the flanks.” 

The Wagner private militia, which has been leading the assault on Bakhmut at a high cost in terms of casualties, is frequently referred to by the ministry as “assault units.”

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