In a significant escalation, Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate reported on Sunday morning that a prized Russian Su-57 fighter jet was hit for the first time, deep inside Russian territory.
The aircraft was reportedly damaged following a strike on the Akhtubinsk airfield in the Astrakhan region, located 360 miles from the front line.
Satellite imagery provided by Ukraine’s military intelligence shows the Su-57 standing intact on June 7 and damaged on June 8, indicating the timing of the strike. Ukraine’s military intelligence highlighted the significance of this event, noting that the Su-57 is Moscow’s “most modern fighter, capable of attacking with Kh-59 and Kh-69 missiles.”
A pro-Kremlin Telegram channel, Fighterbomber, which often serves as an unofficial source for confirming Russian military losses, reported shrapnel damage to the Su-57. The channel mentioned, “Whether [the bomber] can be restored or not is currently being determined.”
Unlike the more widely used Su-25 and Su-35 aircraft, Russia’s fifth-generation Su-57 fighters have seen limited use since the invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Ukraine’s military intelligence emphasized, “The defeat of the Su-57 is the first such case in history.”
This news followed another notable incident just a day earlier, where a video surfaced on open-source intelligence channels showing a Ukrainian long-range attack drone diving toward Mozdok air base in Russia’s southern region of North Ossetia, 450 miles from the eastern Ukraine front line.
