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Ukraine Shoots Down Russian Fighter Jets

by VOA News

   In his daily address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked
   the air force pilots who shot down three Russian fighter jets Friday in
   Ukraine's Kherson region.

   Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to the soldiers, adding, "May every
   Russian pilot be well aware of our response to every Russian killer --
   none of them will go unpunished."

   The fate of the Russian pilots and crew members was not immediately
   clear.

   Ukrainian and Russian troops are facing an adversary of another kind on
   the ground, the British Defense Ministry said Friday in its daily
   intelligence update on Ukraine -- "exceptional levels of rat and mice
   infestation in some sectors of the front line."

   The rodents will "likely" seek shelter in vehicles and defensive
   positions," the ministry said, which could also affect soldiers'
   morale, according to the report.

   The update said the jump in the rodent population is likely the result
   of this year's mild autumn, "along with ample food from fields left
   fallow due to the fighting."

   The British ministry said the rodents could gnaw the cables of military
   equipment, just as they did in the same region during World War II.

   Unverified reports indicate, the ministry said, that Russian troops are
   already beginning to experience a growing number of cases of illness,
   which the Russian troops blame on the rodents.