Kiev declares loss of fighter air craft throughout Russian drone assault
(MENAFN) Ukraine’s air force confirmed on Monday that it lost a Su-27 fighter jet during a mission to counter an incoming Russian drone assault.
According to the official statement, the aircraft was carrying out a "complex combat mission" to support ground forces and intercept Russian strike drones. The exact location of the incident and the type of drones involved were not disclosed. The pilot ejected safely but was hospitalized.
Russian sources claim the jet was destroyed while pursuing Geran-2 drones—long-range, kamikaze-style UAVs often used by Moscow in coordinated swarming attacks. These drones are commonly deployed for deep strikes on infrastructure and sometimes operate in large numbers without accompanying missile systems.
It remains unclear whether the Su-27 was directly hit by the drones or mistakenly targeted by Ukraine’s own air defenses. Ukrainian authorities stated that a special commission will investigate the circumstances surrounding the crash.
Unverified video footage circulating online appears to show the aircraft engulfed in flames and spiraling into a forested area.
This is not the first instance of Ukrainian jets being downed while intercepting Geran-2 drones. In October 2022, a MiG-29 crashed after taking damage from the blast of a drone it destroyed with its autocannon. Another MiG-29 was mistakenly shot down by Ukrainian air defenses during a similar mission in February 2023. In both past incidents, the pilots survived.
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