Ukrainian Air Defense Shot Down Russian Su-24М near Snake Island

5 December, 2023 Illustrative photo of the Russian Su-24M. Photo from open sources The Ukrainian Air Force reported on the shootdown of the Russian Su-24? front-line bomber in the area of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island.

This is stated in the message of Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force. It is reported that the Su-24?, operating under the cover of a Su-30SM fighter, tried to launch a missile and bomb attack on the southern part of the Odesa region. "Thanks to the successful operation of the Air Command "South," the Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile unit sent the Russian "Su-jet" behind the "Russian warship," Mykola Oleshchuk wrote.

Information about the shootdown of the bomber was indirectly confirmed by the Russian propagandist Fighterbomber (Ilya Tumanov), who released a photo of the aircraft on his Telegram channel.

Su-24. Source: Fighterbomber

In August, Militarnyi reported that one of the Russian propaganda videos showed the wreckage of a Su-24? front-line bomber, which the invaders lost in the Donetsk region. According to the Oryx Osint-analysts, during the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, the Russians lost about 12 Su-24 front-line bombers of various modifications.

It is worth noting that we are talking about both combat losses and losses due to emergency situations. Recall that in September it was reported about the Su-24? accident in the Volgograd Oblast. Earlier, in May, an arson of a bomber by an unknown resistance movement member was reported.

Wreckage of a Russian Su-24M with registration number RF-92025 in Soledar, 2023.

Russian propaganda footage

Su-24 bombers can carry a variety of missiles and bomb weapons; for example, they can be armed with two Kh-58 anti-radiation missiles.

They can also be armed with adjusted bombs KAB-500L, KAB-1500L, KAB-1500??, Kh-59 air-to-surface missiles.

It is not known whether the Russians integrated bombs with the UMPK (unified gliding and correction module - ed.) bomb kits into their Su-24, but this possibility should not be excluded.