Ukraine hit a prized Russian Su-57 fighter jet stationed deep inside Russian territory for the first time, Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate reported Sunday morning.
Ukraine says the aircraft was damaged following a strike on the Akhtubinsk airfield in the Astrakhan region in southern Russia, 360 miles from the front line.
Satellite imagery provided by Ukraine’s military intelligence appears to show the aircraft standing intact on June 7 and damaged on June 8.
Ukraine’s military intelligence said the Su-57 is Moscow’s “most modern fighter, which can attack with Kh-59 and Kh-69 missiles.”
A pro-Kremlin Telegram channel, Fighterbomber, often used as a source to confirm Russian military losses in lieu of official confirmation from Moscow, reported that there was shrapnel damage to a Su-57. “Whether [the bomber] can be restored or not is currently being determined,” the channel wrote.
Unlike Russia’s Su-25 and Su-35 aircraft, Moscow’s fifth-generation Su-57 fighters have not been widely used since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. “The defeat of the Su-57 is the first such case in history,” Ukraine’s military intelligence said.
On Saturday, just a day before news of the Su-57 was made public, a video surfaced across open source intelligence channels appearing to show a Ukrainian long-range attack drone diving toward Mozdok air base in Russia’s southern region of North Ossetia, 450 miles from the front line in eastern Ukraine..—Yahoo News
