Additional Coverage:
- Dramatic footage appears to show a Ukrainian missile taking out a prized Russian jet (newsbreak.com)
A Ukrainian military group has released a video which they claim shows a Russian Su-25 fighter jet being shot down. According to the footage, the jet was targeting Ukrainian ground forces in the Donetsk region when it was hit by a missile from Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire and subsequent crashed.
The released video, disseminated by Ukraine’s 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade via social media on July 23, depicts two aircraft in flight, one of which is highlighted and subsequently struck by a projectile from below, leading to an explosion and its crash.
This incident marks the second time in a month that this particular brigade has successfully downed an Su-25 in Donetsk. The Khortytsia operational group, which the brigade is a component of, confirmed these details in a Telegram post, stating that their forces targeted the aircraft as it was attempting to engage Ukrainian positions.
The Su-25, also known by its NATO reporting name “Frogfoot,” is a robust Soviet-era jet designed primarily for close air support. Although production of the jet has ceased, existing units can still be upgraded. According to a 2022 report by the Kyiv Independent, Russia possessed 134 Su-25 jets at the beginning of that year.
Additionally, the open-source project Oryx, which maintains a tally of Russian military equipment losses, reports that 33 Su-25s have been destroyed or damaged since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
It’s important to note that Business Insider has not independently verified the authenticity of the combat footage, and the Russian military generally does not provide comments on specific military losses.