Dramatic footage appears to show a Ukrainian missile taking out a prized Russian jet
A Russian Su-25 fighter jet, left, and the puff of flame and smoke, right, resulting from one being shot down on July 23, 2024, Ukraine claims.
Ukraine shared dramatic footage that it claims shows the downing of a Russian Su-25 military jet.
Ukraine’s 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade posted the footage on its social channels on Tuesday. The video shows two aircraft racing across the sky, with one of them marked up in a circle.
A shot is then fired from ground level and quickly hits the rear aircraft, which explodes and falls to the ground.
The Khortytsia operational group — under whose umbrella the 110th fights — said in a Telegram post that the brigade’s antiaircraft guns made the shot as the two planes were trying to take aim at Ukrainian positions in the eastern Donetsk region.
It said it was the second Su-25 taken down by the 110th in Donetsk in the space of just a month.
B-17 was unable to independently verify the footage, and the Russian military does not typically comment on individual losses.
Known by the NATO reporting name of “Frogfoot,” the Su-25 originated as a heavy Soviet-era jet designed to provide close air support for ground forces.
They are no longer being produced, although upgrades are possible on existing aircraft.
Russia had 134 Su-25s at the start of 2022, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Open-source project Oryx, which tracks Russian equipment losses, says it has documented the destruction of, or damage to, 33 Su-25s since the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
