You're reading: Ukrainian military plane hit with missile over Donetsk region; destroys launcher, lands safely

Members of illegal armed groups in the Donetsk region hit a Ukrainian twin-engine attack plane with a shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missile, but the pilot managed to destroy the missile launcher and then land the plane with only one engine running, Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky, a press officer for the antiterrorist operation in the eastern part of Ukraine, told journalists.

“A Su-24 plane came under fire while flying over the Donetsk region. A total of four MANPADS missiles were launched. One missile hit the plane, and an engine caught fire. The pilot managed to stop the engines and extinguish the fire. He also managed to destroy the anti-aircraft launcher that had hit it,” Dmytrashkivsky told Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday, July 2.

The plane flew another 300 kilometers with one engine on and landed at its base airfield, he said. The plane again caught fire while landing, and firefighters put it out.

“The crew is safe and sound, and the plane requires repairs,” Dmytrashkivsky said.