Humiliating moment Russia ‘shoots down its OWN $36m fighter jet' on anniversary of MH-17 downing in blow to Putin | The Sun
RUSSIA has shot down one of its $36 million Su-34 jets over Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region, Ukrainian media outlets have claimed.
The Sukhoi Su-34, a medium-range fighter-bomber, was accidentally downed near Alchecvsk, which is currently under occupation by Kremlin-backed separatist forces.
Various videos of the incident have been shared on the Telegram messaging app, Tiktok and on Twitter.
Russian war correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny published a video over night which he claimed shows Russian/Luhansk People's Republic air defenses destroying a target over Alchevsk.
The footage appears to show a plane ablaze falling from the sky.
Poddubny alleged the crew had survived.
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Pro-Russian former commander Igor Girkin, who is critical of Moscow's approach to the invasion, also posted apparent evidence of the friendly-fire strike.
Indeed, Girkin, who is a self-described Russian nationalist who orchestrated the annexation of Crimea in 2014, posted a video showing charred remains of a Su-34 on TikTok.
An inscription on the plane, which is still visible, shows that the jet belongs to Russia's Air Force.
Local media claim the plane was shot down by Russia's own air defense in a case of friendly fire.
A Telegram user called Ruslan allegedly wrote: "The jet is ours unfortunately. Sometimes it happens. I heard the info from a friend, I thought bulls**t, but it was confirmed."
Ukrainian news outlet dialog.ua suggested the incident may have taken place on Sunday when the Ukrainian army launched an assault on military warehouses in the occupied city.
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Russian authorities are yet to comment on the allegations.
This comes less than a month after footage of a Russian surface-to-air missile system firing on itself in a bizarre malfunction emerged.
In the video, which was also shot in Alchevsk, the missile can be seen shooting into the sky – before turning mid-air and slamming back into where it came from in an enormous explosion.
Russia, – one of the largest and most technologically sophisticated in the world – has so far struggled to win control over Ukrainian skies.
Indeed, with an estimated 4,000 combat aircraft and vast experience bombing targets in wars and combat zones in Syria, Georgia and Chechnya, Russia was expected to gain air supremacy.
Experts have suggested flawed logistics operations and a lack of regular and realistic training have plighted the recent modernisation of the Russian Air Force – despite the June delivery of their first overplayed SU-34 strike aircrafts.
Indeed, footage released by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense appeared to confirm Kremlin soldiers have been left underequipped, under resourced, facing starvation – with the army forced to resort to off-the-shelf cameras, water bottles and game pads to fix up their planes and drones.
The Ukrainian Air Force, although it possesses limited airpower resources, has so far managed to grow their offensive air capabilities and adapted their air operations.
This has allowed them to block any Russian air dominance.
In April, a Su-34 supersonic bomber, was shot down in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, where much of Russia's army was concentrated.
Air Command East, a branch of the Ukrainian Air Force, was believed to have shot down the jet.
The Air Force efforts have also been bolstered by an extensive range of air and anti-air capabilities – from handled portable surface-to-air missiles to longer-range S-300 missile systems from Slovakia and drones used to identify Russian ground-to-air missiles.
The Su-34 disaster comes on the eight anniversary of the MH-17 downing over Eastern Ukraine.
The Malaysian Airlines jet was hit by a Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile, killing 298 passengers and crew.
The dead included ten Britons, 193 Dutch, 38 Australians and 43 Malaysians. Eighty victims were children.
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A 15-month investigation by the Dutch Safety Board revealed the aircraft had crashed after being hit by a Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile.
The Netherlands held Russia responsible, claiming rebels shot down the plane using a missile supplied by the Kremlin, but Putin has always denied it.
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