Ukraine lost one of its MiG-29 fighter jets after it shot down an Iranian-made drone being used by Russia in the ongoing war.
According to media reports, a Ukrainian MiG-29 reportedly costs between US$5 million and US$12 million.
The drone, an Iranian Shahed-136 Kamikaze (re-christened as Geran-2 by Russia), costs between US$20,000 and US$25,000.
The Iran-made Shahed-136 Kamikazes are “literally powered by lawnmower engines (presumably, because Iran has limited access to engines due to US sanctions)”, Portfolio Armor reported.
“Despite being loud and slow, they apparently have been quite effective, so the Ukrainian Air Force sent up a MiG-29 fighter to shoot one down”.
The MiG successfully shot down the drone, but shrapnel from the explosion of the drone hit the MiG’s cockpit, forcing the pilot to eject.
Ukraine can easily dig into its cash haul from the US to replace the MiG. The Biden administration this week supplied Kyiv with another “security aid package” worth US$725 million.
Team Biden has now given the Ukrainians aid equal to Russia’s entire military budget for 2021.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk agreed to continue to foot the bill for the Ukrainian military’s Starlink satellite Internet communications even though Musk was briefly put on the Ukraine’s Myrotvorets kill list.
Commenting on these incidents, many people have left comments on social media posts. Here are few of those comments:
Jeff Bates: So Ukraine has hit lists out on political dissidents and we’re still supporting them?
Oksana: Critical to point out that this is not just a list of dissenting voices. People on this list have been killed: journalists, politicians, civil servants, and a lot of civilians. It is used by the Ukraine Armed forces, police and civilians to hunt down Russian sympathizers.
Oleksandra: Alright, repeat after me: Myrotvotets’ is not, and never has been, a kill-list. For one thing, it’s not even a government project — it’s a database made by overenthusiastic semi-volunteers who most definitely aren’t going around hiring assassins. But, most importantly, it’s quite.
Andre Hopley: The world has been deceived in a huge way. Ukraine are not ‘the good guys’.
Suzanne: Why is US sending money to that country?
Markus: I would like to see some more documentation about this supposed kill list. It sounds strange that they would put something like that online. You are a journalist so I guess you have something more substantial than a screenshot to back this up?
Eva: On August 4, Ukraine’s bombing of central Donetsk included right next to the hotel I & many other journalists were in, killing a woman just outside. Could have been accidental, or could’ve been targeting journalists, w NATO caliber precision artillery.
