30-09-23, 05:44
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Russian Forces Shoot Down Their OWN TOP Fighter Jet
Russian Air Defences Shoot Down Their OWN TOP Fighter Jet in Error
BBC 30 SEP 2023
Russian air defences have shot down one of the countrys’nmost advanced fighter jets in a friendly fire incident, according to reports.
The Russian Su-35 was downed over Tokmak, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, on Thursday where Ukraine is mounting its counter-offensive.
A Russian Telegram channel with close links to the country’s air force appeared to confirm the incident on Friday when it paid tribute to the pilot, who did not survive.
Footage showing a fireball falling out of the sky began circulating on Friday.
According to the Institute of War, Russia’s 70th and 71st Motorized Rifle Regiments are fighting between the current frontline in Zaporizhzhia and Tokmak.
Seizing Tokmak would represent a huge victory for Ukraine’s forces, Gen Oleksandr Tarnavsky, who is leading Ukraine’s counter-offensive along the southern front line, told CNN last week.
“Tokmak is the minimum goal … The overall objective is to get to our state borders,” he said.
Western analysts have said that Russia’s air force has an unusual toll of self-inflicted losses.
They believe that it is the result of a push to complete training quickly, the pressure of combat and a lack of experienced pilots.
Russia has lost four Su-35 jets since Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine in February last year, according to the Dutch open-source intelligence outlet Oryx.
Russia has also experienced self-inflicted losses on the ground.
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