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Anti-aircraft gunners shot down a Russian Su-25 fighter bomber jet on Sunday, July 7, near the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
Knewz.com has learned that this is the second Su-25 fighter jet to have been downed by Ukrainian air defenses in 10 days.
The $11 million fighter bomber was taken down by anti-aircraft gunners from a separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine named after Colonel-General Marko Bezruchko, a decorated soldier who fought in the First World War.
The Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group channel on Telegram was the first to report the incident, where they mentioned that the downed aircraft currently lay burning on "the steppes of the Ukrainian Donbas."
"Our Ukrainian troops have shot down a Russian Su-25 aircraft, which was attacking the positions of the defense forces, on the Pokrovsk front," the Telegram report wrote.
"The anti-aircraft gunners of the [110th] Separate Mechanised Brigade named after Lieutenant General Mark Bezruchko have destroyed another Su-25 attack aircraft, which is now burning in the steppes of Ukrainian Donbas."
The "Sukhoi" Su-25 fighter bomber jet is a ground-attack aircraft designed to provide close-range air support on the battlefield.
Armed with one twin barrel 30mm gun in the bottom of the fuselage with 250 rounds and eight pylons under the wings that can carry about 88,18 pounds of air-to-ground weapons – including 57mm to 330mm rockets – the aircraft can attack low-altitude, slow-moving targets in the air, as well as targets on the ground, per United States military information website ODIN.
On June 28, The National Guard of Ukraine reported shooting down another Russian Su-25 fighter aircraft, also in the Donetsk region.
The Ukrainian National Guard wrote on Telegram that a team from its 31st Brigade downed the bomber using an Igla MANPAD air defense missile system. "The Su-25 attack aircraft was downed with a well-aimed shot," the report mentioned.
The Telegram report was accompanied by a video of the successful attack that showed the launched projectile hit the enemy aircraft, with the operators exclaiming in excitement as the Su-25 went down leaving behind a trail of smoke.
The news outlet Kyiv Post explained that the Igla portable air-defense missile system "consists of a single-use transport and launch container, a launch mechanism, and a built-in radar interrogator for identifying friendly and enemy aircraft."
"As soon as the infrared radiation from the air target is detected by the receiver of the homing head, visual and sound indicators alert the operator that the target has been fixed and captured. The operator then decides when to launch the anti-aircraft missile, which autonomously tracks and hits the target."
It is worth noting that the latest instance of Ukrainian air defenses shooting down a Russian Su-25 fighter jet came a day before Vladimir Putin launched one of the most devastating missile strikes on Ukraine, causing nationwide death and devastation.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the strike on Monday, July 8, saw more than 40 missiles of various types targeted five Ukrainian cities—Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, and Kryvyi Rih.
The barrage included the difficult-to-intercept Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, one of the most advanced weapons in Putin's repertoire.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko shared the latest update on nationwide casualties on Telegram, mentioning that 28 people have been found dead and 112 people have been recorded injured so far.
"Emergency rescue operations at the sites of the biggest [explosions] continue. There are rescuers, police, and communal services. Separate gratitude to all the caring people who rushed to the rescue. Unity makes us stronger," Klymenko wrote in his report.
“It is very important that the world should not be silent about it now and that everyone should see what Russia is and what it is doing,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote about the attack on social media, adding that the exact number of casualties was still unknown.
