In the first days of the full-scale invasion, Russians shot down their own planes

During the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military shot down its own planes — The Financial Times with reference to sources.

An unnamed former US official said, "it may not be a double-digit number, but it's more than one or two." 

"Maybe they didn't have pilots with combat experience who wanted to fly over Ukraine and risk their heads in those crazy circumstances," the official added.

This information was confirmed by Vadym Skibitskyi, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine. 

He says the Russians shot down their own planes and helicopters from artillery units and tanks. Ukrainian intelligence learned about that from intercepted conversations between Russians.