‘Crappy day’: Russia loses multiple Flankers in one day over Ukraine

Ukrainian Air Assault Forces Command

Multiple Russian fighter jets were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses on September 24, 2022, with some of the shootdowns captured on video.   

The footage has been confirmed by Russian sources, marking a grim day for Russian forces. 

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, one Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft, one Sukhoi Su-34 strike aircraft and two Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets were shot down on September 24.    

At least two of the losses appear to have been filmed from multiple angles, with one taking place near Petropavlivka, a settlement in the eastern Kharkiv region. The footage shows what appears to be a Su-34 strike jet maneuvering at low altitude, before being struck by a missile and plummeting to the ground soon after.  

The event was filmed by at least two other drones and one team of Ukrainian soldiers from the ground.  

A second video was posted to the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces Command Facebook page on the same day and shows a derivative of the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker flying while one of its engines is engulfed in flames. While the crash is not visible, additional footage shows a plume of smoke and a crash site. It is unclear if that additional footage shows the aftermath of the same event or if it was filmed earlier.  

 “Our warrior paratroopers shot down two Russian aircraft, Su025 and Su-30,” the accompanying video description stated.   

However, closer examination of the footage shows that a pronounced tail boom is visible on the aircraft, a feature belonging only to the Su-34.  

The burning aircraft was also filmed from the ground by some Ukrainian soldiers, with the same unconfirmed footage of a crash site seemingly spliced in at the end.  

The aircraft appears to have been shot down above Maliivka, a village near the border between the regions of Kharkiv and Luhansk.  

While Russian authorities have not acknowledged the losses, the Fighterbomber Telegram channel, run by a person involved with one of the Russian Air Force regiments, commented on the issue on September 25.  

“Yesterday Khokhols [a Russian slur for Ukrainians – AeroTime] shot down two of our best, the rest was, as always, made up,” a post by Fighterbomber said 

A day earlier, on September 24, Fighterbomber also published a post which can be loosely translated as saying “Crappy day”.  

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