The commander of the Ukrainian army has said that his unit managed to shoot down a Russian plane without firing a single missile, according to the ArmyINFORM agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

According to foreign media, the Telegraph reports, Yaroslav Melnyk led a unit that has so far destroyed 28 targets, including 11 fighter jets, two helicopters, two missiles and 13 unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs], ArmyINFORM reported.

The Buk M1 anti-aircraft missile battery has been fighting in the eastern Kharkiv region since Vladimir Putin's full-scale aggression began on February 24.

And Melnyk said his unit had first carried out combat operations in areas including Novaya Kakhovka, and later Zaporizhzhya, the city where hostilities near Europe's largest nuclear reactor had caused international concern.

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He described how his equipment had held firm against Russian jets over the Kharkiv region as they carried out airstrikes on the city of Izyum and surrounding areas.

On one occasion, he said, his unit didn't need to fully deploy its full capabilities when the Buk illuminator radar system that tracks and illuminates a target was enough to throw off the Russian pilot.

"We also shot down a plane without firing a single missile," he said, explaining that the Russian pilot likely reacted to a radar exposure warning signal in his cockpit that indicated he was being tracked.

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"He realized he had turned from an attacker to a target.

This probably caused him to jump immediately.

That's how the plane crashed", he was quoted as saying.

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However, Newsweek points out that the location and date of the incident were not specified and could not be independently verified.

On August 6, which is the country's national air force day, Melnyk was awarded Ukraine's highest honors, the Order of the Golden Star and Hero of Ukraine, by the country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

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Telegraph

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