Ukraine’s air defenses reportedly shot down two of Russia’s most prized frontline combat jets in a single day, dealing a significant and costly blow to Moscow’s air power. Initial reports from Russian military bloggers suggested that one of the downed aircraft on Wednesday was an Su-34, a modern fighter-bomber that Moscow relies on heavily to launch guided aerial bombs against targets across Ukraine. The Su-34 is a twin-engine, supersonic strike jet capable of delivering guided bombs, cruise missiles and anti-ship weapons, making it one of the Kremlin’s most valuable frontline assets. Each aircraft is worth tens of millions of dollars and is flown by highly trained crews that are difficult for Russia to replace. Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, said the second aircraft involved was a Su-30 multirole fighter, a frontline strike jet used for both air‑to‑air fighting and bombing missions. The reported loss of the Su-34, which is believed to have crashed over the Black Sea, was first flagged not by Ukrainian officials but by Russian military bloggers. “One of their [Russia’s] war correspondents was the first to start whining about the loss,” Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Naval Forces, said, as quoted by the Ukrainian news agency UNN. Air war intensifies Kyiv has increasingly targeted Russia’s air power both at the front and deep behind the lines as Moscow’s full-scale invasion nears its fourth year. Last year, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) conducted drone strikes on multiple Russian airfields, destroying aircraft, fuel facilities and ammunition depots in operations that Kyiv said inflicted more than $1 billion in damage.
