Russia appears to have shot down one of its own $40 million fighter jets in the skies over eastern Ukraine in just the latest humiliation for Putin’s military.
Footage of a flaming wreckage falling from the sky over Alchevsk in Luhansk first emerged overnight on Sunday, when it was released by pro-Moscow Telegram accounts, which said “allied forces” shot down the plane.
However, the next day, more videos of the wreckage surfaced on the ground, revealing the words “Russian Aerospace Forces” written on the side of the plane.
It now appears that Putin’s men shot down one of their own jets – identified online as a rare $40 million variant of the Su-34 fighter-bomber.
Russia appears to have shot down a rare $40 million Su-34M fighter-bomber in the skies over eastern Ukraine after wreckage was discovered near the city of Alchevsk
Writing on the plane’s side appeared to read “ВКС Россия,” which is an acronym for Russian Aerospace Forces, while a partial serial number identified the jet as a Su-34M
The launch came shortly after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered his anti-aircraft defenses to prioritize firing American-made HIMARS missiles.
HIMARS have devastated the invasion of Russia, destroying headquarters and ammunition depots deep behind the front lines, with Putin’s anti-aircraft defenses seemingly struggling to stop them.
Michael Weiss, a respected security correspondent, linked the two events and tweeted, “They just shot down their own Su-34 aiming at HIMARS.”
The incident was first brought to light by Yevgeny Poddubny, who runs a pro-Russian Telegram channel that usually posts videos of Putin’s troops attacking Ukraine.
Late Sunday, he released footage of a flaming ball falling from the sky over the city of Alchevsk in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine.
Alongside the video, he wrote: “Last night the Allied Forces air defense crew destroyed a target in the skies over Alchevsk (LPR).
“The nature of the target is not clear. The flaming ball fell to the ground for more than a minute.”
Footage of the wreckage emerged the next morning, apparently showing the burning remains of a Su-34 fighter-bomber.
The incident first came to light overnight when pro-Kremlin channels released footage of a flaming wreckage falling from the sky near Alchevsk – and said their forces shot it down
But more footage that surfaced of debris near Alchevsk on the same day showed what appeared to be a Russian jet, suggesting that Putin’s men had shot down one of their own
The night sky turns orange as the wreckage of the jet crashes to the ground near Alchevsk, the latest humiliation for Putin’s military
On the side of the plane were the words “ВКС Россия” – an acronym standing for “Russian Aerospace Forces”.
A partial serial number ending in “90” was also visible. According to the Dutch Aviation Society, there is only one Su-34 jet with a serial number ending in ’90’ and it is an advanced Su-34M variant.
The fighter-bombers – of which only 10 existed prior to the downing – are flown almost exclusively by the 277th Bomber Aviation Regiment.
Russian state media have previously confirmed that the 277th is deployed near Ukraine.
The Su-34M is a vastly improved version of the basic Su-34, a long-range fighter-bomber designed to compete with the American F-15.
At the time of the aircraft’s development, Russia boasted that it had upgraded avionics, radar, communications systems, electronic warfare, and weapons systems.
Yury Slyusar, head of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation, previously said that it has roughly twice the combat capability of the base model.
The loss of such an advanced and rare jet is just the latest battlefield humiliation for Putin’s military, nearly five months after what was reportedly a days-long “military special operation.”
Only 10 Su-34M fighter-bombers were ever built and they are one of Russia’s most advanced jets, costing around US$40 million each (file picture).
During this period, the Russian army – once considered the second best in the world – was forced to withdraw from Kyiv and much of northern Ukraine after its offensive stalled.
After Putin’s attempts to take the capital gave up, Putin’s generals turned their attention to eastern Donbass, hoping to conquer it completely, possibly encircling a large part of the Ukrainian army in the process.
But that plan also failed, with months of hard fighting that resulted in the capture of three cities – Mariupol to the south and Severodonetsk and Lysychansk to the north.
While the capture of the cities means victories for Russia, they come at a huge price and have only slightly shifted the front line from where it was before the war.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has struck back – sinking the Black Sea flagship Moskva and retaking the small but strategic Snake Island.
A counterattack is also underway near the southern city of Kherson, which was captured by Russia in the early days of the war.
Advances here have been slow and bloody, with Kyiv reportedly suffering heavy casualties, but it has achieved some successes.
Meanwhile, the attack on the Donbass has all but stalled as troops are withdrawn from that front to reinforce the south and US-made HIMARS missiles ravage Russian command posts and artillery camps.
Russia’s main war aim now seems to be to hold on to the limited gains it has made since the war began, hoping to give Putin the best negotiating hand possible when the time comes to strike a peace deal.
Ukraine, meanwhile, is putting its remaining manpower and whatever weapons it can get from the West on reclaiming territory before support for the war wanes.