In its daily dispatch, the defence ministry said its air defence shot down three Su-27 fighter aircraft and one Su-24 tactical bomber in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions of southeastern Ukraine.
The dispatch provided no further details.
On Friday, Zelenskiy said the country's forces shot down three Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber aircraft on the southern front, hailing it as a success in the 22-month-old conflict.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has thanked troops who are spending Christmas in the trenches. (AP PHOTO)
The commander of Ukraine's air force also said the planes had been downed.
Reuters was not immediately able to corroborate the battlefield reports from either side.
Zelenskiy addressed his compatriots on Sunday with a Christmas message of encouragement in the face of Russia's ongoing invasion.
"In the end, darkness will lose. Evil will be defeated," Zelenskiy said in the video message.
He added that the whole country would pray together during the holidays "for our freedom, for our victory, for our Ukraine".
The nights before Christmas are the longest of the year. However, the day has already begun to lengthen and the light has begun to prevail. The light grows stronger. Day by day and step by step, the darkness retreats.— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) Darkness will eventually lose. Evil will be defeated.Today,… pic.twitter.com/SF2T0dE1VZDecember 24, 2023
Zelenskiy thanked Ukrainian soldiers who are spending Christmas in the trenches at the front, and also shared his thoughts with all the families who will once again have to celebrate this year without husbands, sons and fathers who are fighting.
The Russian invasion began on February 24, 2022, so this is Ukraine's second winter at war with its much larger neighbour.
Ukraine has largely shifted the celebration of Christmas to December 25, the date in which the holiday is celebrated in much of the world, from January 7, the date of the holiday in the Russian Orthodox Church.
Only the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has long been linked to Moscow, has stuck with the old date.
"All our warriors of light, the guardian angels of Ukraine," Zelenskiy said.
"They prove that miracles exist but we must create them ourselves."
with DPA
