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In dramatic footage , a Russian fighter plane can be seen crashing to the ground in a huge fireball after being struck by a Ukrainian ground-to-air missile.
The clip released by pro-Ukrainian Telegram Channel Cargo 200, is yet to be independently verified, and it's not yet been confirmed which type of missile was used to destroy the Sukhoi fighter-bomber.
A similar dramatic video released by the Ukrainian defence forces showed the moment that a tungsten dart from a British-made Starstreak anti-aircraft missile struck a Russian Mi-28N helicopter, blowing it into two pieces.
READ MORE: British Starstreak missile shoots down Russian helicopter in dramatic battle footage
In the wake of increased Russian air and artillery attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine, the country’s president, Volodomyr Zelenskyy has said that air defence is Ukraine’s top priority in the battle against Putin’s forces.
In a call earlier this week, US President Joe Biden told Zelenskyy that the US was committed to providing Ukraine the support it needs, “including advanced air defence systems”.
An official White House statement didn’t specify which air defence systems the two presidents discussed.
However, the US is known to be fast-tracking the supply of the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System [NASAMS], a sophisticated launcher which fires AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles – a weapon more commonly used for air-to-air combat.
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The NASAMS, which was developed by US arms giant Raytheon Technologies in collaboration with a Norwegian company, Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace is one of NATO’s key air-defence systems.
It’s used, among other things, to protect the White House and the US Capitol Building from air attack.
The system will be delivered to Ukraine “within several weeks,” according to a Pentagon statement.
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British troops have already been deployed to a secret location in eastern Europe to teach Ukrainians how to use the shoulder-mounted Starstreak – which receives constant guidance from its ground operator, making it extremely difficult to evade.
However the extra accuracy comes at a cost, as operators require much more training than they might with the “fire and forget” Stinger missile.
Colonel Graham Taylor told The Times that Ukrainian troops’ ability to pick up the necessary skill to operate Starstreak would take “some time,” adding “that will be dependent on their aptitude, although clearly they’ve got a vested interest in putting that learning to good effect”
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