Russians have confirmed the loss of a Su-35S fighter in the Eastern sector

17 February, 2024 Russian Su-35S fighter. December 2022. Photo credits: UAC

Ukrainian air defense shot down two Su-34 fighter-bombers and one Su-35S fighter in the eastern sector. Mykola Oleschuk, Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, announced this. The area and means of destruction of Russian aircraft were not disclosed.

Later, Oleshchuk released a map of the International Cospas-Sarsat Programme search and rescue initiative with four emergency radio buoys that showed that Russian pilots had ejected in the border areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Emergency radio buoys. Source: Mykola Oleshchuk.

The radio buoys are located near the town of Amvrosiivka in the Donetsk region, the village of Diakove in the Luhansk region, and the Russian village of Lysogorka. Accordingly, the shortest distance from the line of contact is about 75 kilometers, which makes it quite possible to hit aircraft with the air defense systems available in the Ukrainian inventory.

Russian propaganda resources indirectly confirmed the loss of the Su-35S fighter, whose pilot survived, and the Su-34s allegedly returned to the air base. Militarnyi previously reported that the situation in the Avdiivka sector has been significantly complicated by the massive use of guided bombs (KABs).

A Russian pilot after a search and rescue operation, February 17, 2024. Source: Kirill Fedorov.

One of the soldiers of the 3rd Assault Brigade, Maksym Zhorin, reported on his Telegram channel that Russian tactical aviation was dropping 60-80 bombs per day.

Russian propaganda media claim that on February 15 alone, Russian aviation set a record by dropping about 250 guided bombs (KABs) per day along the entire frontline.

Russian tactical aviation operates in typical formations with one Su-35 fighter and two Su-34 fighter-bombers.

On December 22, Militarnyi reported that the Ukrainian Air Force shot down three Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers in the southern sector.