Shocking video footage circulating online appears to show the moment Russian forces shoot down one of their own aircraft in an apparent friendly fire mishap – with initial reports suggesting it was an SU-25 jet costing £15 million.
Other reports have claimed it may have been an even more expensive SU-34.
The clip, shared by the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper, purportedly shows the Russian plane launching guided bombs at Ukrainian positions in the Donetsk region today, before being blasted out of the sky.
Footage shared on social media showed an aircraft being hit in mid-air by a missile, and the remnants of an aircraft after it crashed. However, it is unclear whether the footage is from the same incident.
One ex-adviser to Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Ministry claimed the downed aircraft was either a Su-25 ground support jet or a Hunter S-70 drone.
Russian forces have slowly advanced in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, which President Vladimir Putin annexed in September 2022, albeit sustaining large casualties along the way.
Earlier this week, the Ukrainian military confirmed it had pulled out of Vuhledar, a city in Donetsk province with a pre-war population of around 14,000, following weeks of intense fighting.
Nevertheless, Putin’s troops are still struggling to regain control of parts of Russia‘s Kursk province, which were seized by Ukrainian forces during a surprise offensive in August.
Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to Ukraine‘s internal affairs minister, shared footage of a destroyed aircraft on X, commenting: « Videos appeared online showing a Russian Su-25 that crashed in Donetsk region.
« There is unconfirmed information that it could have been friendly fire by the Russians themselves. »
Mr Gerashchenko later suggested the aircraft could have been « a Russian Hunter S-70 drone that was allegedly carrying out a reconnaissance flight, » citing a Russian military Telegram channel.
He also said: « There is also information that the crashed Russian aircraft is a Russian Su-34, not a Su-25. Its cost is about $40 million.
Su-25s are understood to cost between £11 million.
In a separate development, the Ukrainian military on Saturday released a video that it claimed showed a Russian tank being destroyed by a drone that dropped molten thermite over it.
A number of videos have emerged showing Ukrainian « dragon drones » dropping thermite, consisting of a mixture of aluminium and rust which burns at extremely high temperatures, on Russian positions in recent weeks.
On Saturday, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry also released its latest estimates for Russian casualties over the past 24 hours. Kyiv claimed that Russian forces had suffered 1,280 casualties and lost eight tanks and 31 infantry fighting vehicles in this period, though this claim has not been independently verified.
Angelica Evans, a Russia researcher with the Institute for the Study of War think tank, said of October 3, Moscow controlled 98.8 percent of Ukraine‘s Luhansk province. Together, the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces make up the Donbas region.
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