Ukraine's military said it has shot down three Russian fighter-bombers in the south of the country.

Air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said the Su-34 jets were downed in the Kherson region around noon on Friday.

The Kremlin has not commented on the Ukrainian claims but Russian war blogger Fighterbomber said there had been losses, likely due to the Patriot missile air-defense system.

Another war blogger, the Voenniy Osvedomitel ("Military Informant") channel on Telegram, also reported "losses among Su-34 bombers" which they said were being used to drop glide bombs on the Ukrainian bridgehead in Krynky on the Russian-controlled east bank of the Dnipro river.

Zelensky also said he spoke with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on delivery of F-16 jets to Ukraine and discussed the approval of a new, 50-billion-euro ($55 billion) European Union support package for Ukraine.

"The Netherlands is preparing to send the first F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. From political decisions regarding the provision of aircraft, we have moved on to training pilots and engineers, and now we are implementing the technical part — the actual delivery of F-16 jets," he said.

The Netherlands announced Friday it was preparing delivery of 18 of the United States-made F-16 combat jets pledged to Ukraine, at a moment when Kyiv is under pressure on all fronts.

With US approval, Denmark and the Netherlands announced in August they would provide up to 61 jets, once Ukrainian pilots had been trained.

Russia downs drones

Meanwhile, Russia said Friday it had downed 10 Ukrainian drones over the capital Moscow and several border regions, as Kyiv vowed to increase drone production over the coming months.

"Air defense forces in the urban district of Podolsk repelled an attack from a drone flying towards Moscow," the capital's mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

No damage or casualties were reported where debris fell and emergency services were at work at the site, Sobyanin added.

Earlier the armed forces said they thwarted several waves of attacks and destroyed five drones over the border region of Bryansk.

Another four were destroyed over the Kaluga region, which is near Moscow, the armed forces said.

Russian air defense forces often report thwarting attacks, but rarely specify whether drones are launched from Ukraine, or from Russian territory.

WITH AFP