This is the dramatic moment the Ukrainian air force shot down another of Putin’s £15m fighter jets in the latest blow to Russia’s faltering war effort.
A Sukhoi SU-25 attack aircraft is seen exploding in a fireball as it flies over Ukrainian positions around Kramatorsk, Ukrainian sources said.
The plane was forced to drop flares to distract heat-seeking missiles while flying low with another aircraft in eastern Ukraine, but was reportedly hit before it crashed to the ground.
Anti-aircraft gunners from the 28th separate mechanized brigade shot down the last Su-25 with a portable anti-aircraft missile, the sources said.
Russia has launched devastating attacks inside Ukraine since kyiv’s surprise incursion into the Kursk region earlier this month, but the damage has been limited by US-supplied F-16s now available to destroy foreign rockets, President Zelensky said.
A Ukrainian plane appears to be chasing one of Putin’s SU-25 fighters over eastern Ukraine
The SU-25 appears to be firing flares in an attempt to deflect a Ukrainian missile attack
But then the video apparently shows the plane bursting into flames, unable to escape the attacks.
The file photo shows a Sukhoi SU-25 fighter jet
Russian attacks inside Ukraine have intensified in recent days, with several Ukrainian regions targeted by a combination of missile and drone strikes.
At least five people have been killed, including two when a hotel was “destroyed” by a missile in central Kryvyi Rih, local officials said.
Three people were killed in an attack in Zaporizhia.
Zelensky has vowed to retaliate and called on his allies to bolster Ukraine’s munitions to maintain momentum as kyiv retreats into Russian territory.
The downing of a SU-25 marks another success recorded by Ukraine that may encourage Ukrainian supporters to continue supplying arms to kyiv.
“The fate of the crew is still unknown, but we know for certain that our infantry has one less problem,” the 28th Brigade reported on social media.
In total, during the invasion of Ukraine, the Russians have lost at least 33 Su-25 attack aircraft, according to calculations by the OSINT Oryx project, which documents equipment losses on both sides of the conflict.
Other analyses suggest that Putin had seen as many as 43 Su-25s in the war before this loss.
Moscow has not officially acknowledged the loss of another Su-25.
Still, Russia is making progress in the rust belt of Donbass in eastern Ukraine.
But kyiv’s forces control 100 settlements inside Russia, in the Kursk region, and are also seeking to push into the Belgorod region, forcing Putin to move troops from Donbas and Crimea to defend his own territory.
During a briefing on the war this week, Zelensky called for more F-16 jets and more training for pilots, while revealing that some were used to shoot down Russian missiles during attacks inside Ukraine this week.
He also shared that Ukraine had tested its first domestically produced ballistic missiles, adding that he could not provide further details at this stage.
Ukraine has been trying to develop its own missiles and related hardware to reduce dependence on Western aid as the war continues.
Separately, Zelensky announced the use of the Palianytsia drone missile over the weekend, saying it had already been used successfully.
While Ukraine has the capacity to produce between 1.5 and 2 million drones this year, he warned that the country still lacks funding.
Western support has strengthened Ukraine’s ability to withstand Russian attacks since the reopening of the Kharkiv offensive in May.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky answers questions from the media in front of Ukrainian Air Force F-16 fighter jets on August 4.
The F-16 fighter jets that have been delivered to Ukraine by Western countries will fly missions in Ukrainian skies and help the country’s existing fleet of Soviet-era aircraft counter Russia’s invasion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Astrakhan Region Governor Igor Babushkin during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, August 27.
A soldier of Ukraine’s 22nd Separate Mechanized Brigade takes aim with a Browning M2 machine gun during an exercise in the Sumy region near the Russian border amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, August 17, 2024.
Russian soldiers fire an AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher at Ukrainian positions at an undisclosed location in Russia’s Kursk region
Ukrainian servicemen ride in a military vehicle, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near the Russian border in Sumy region, Ukraine, August 11, 2024
The Russian strikes prompted some of kyiv’s supporters to grant more flexibility in Ukraine’s use of its donated weapons.
Since then, Ukraine has been able to launch an assault on Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions, destroying key infrastructure and plants that supply the Russian military.
This hampers Russia’s ability to launch cross-border attacks into Ukraine.
Zelensky said this week that the Kursk incursion was partly intended to forestall a Russian offensive in the Sumy or Chernihiv regions.
He added that this was part of a plan to find a lasting solution to the conflict that would preserve Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
An aide to Putin has saying However, there can be no peace talks with Ukraine amid its Kursk incursion.
