Russia's £82M supersonic fighter jet shot down by its own air defense system.

A shocking incident has occurred in Ukraine, as one of Russia's Su-35 fighter jets was reportedly shot down by a Russian S-300 air defence system. On Thursday night, footage showed an aircraft being hit by a missile before exploding above Tokmak in the Zaporizhzhia region. An orange ball of flames and trail of smoke can be seen in the sky behind the jet as it plummets to the ground.

Pro-war channels have acknowledged that the jet, which is worth £82 million and has a one-pilot cockpit, was hit by its own forces. Russian aviation Z-blogger Fighterbomber even published a photo of the Su-35 with the message: ‘Eternal flight, brother’, which is effectively seen as acknowledging the loss. Ukrainian channel Crimean Wind also posted: ‘Russian air defence vs Russian Su-35 1:0. Russian soldiers used an S-300 missile to shoot down their own plane near Tokmak. Work, brothers! Do not stop!’

This ‘blue on blue’ strike, if confirmed, is the latest setback for Vladimir Putin's forces, which have been hit by a succession of strikes from Ukraine. Last week, a missile strike on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet left at least nine dead and 16 injured, with senior Russian commanders among the fatalities.

An assessment by the British MoD said that Russia has lost approximately 90 planes since the start of the war against Ukraine. The report also said that the ‘viability’ of the Russian Aerospace Forces' long-term tactical air power is likely to degrade as the war continues. It is certainly an alarming situation for Russia, and one can only hope that the conflict does not escalate any further.

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