Russian air defenses struck one of Moscow's most advanced fighter jets over annexed Crimea, according to a local report.
Moscow's S-400 air defense system fired at the Russian Su-35 jet near Krasnoperekopsk, a town in the northern part of the Black Sea peninsula, the Telegram channel Crimean Wind reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source.
"Now the plane is losing altitude over the Sea of Azov," the channel said in one post, before adding in another that a "damaged Su-35 landed at a military airfield" in the city of Melitopol in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region.
Newsweek has been unable to independently verify the report, and has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment via email. Russian authorities haven't commented on the alleged incident.
More than a fifth of Russia's known manned aircraft and helicopter losses since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the war in Ukraine in February 2022 have been self-inflicted, according to data compiled and analyzed by Newsweek in late August 2023.
This is not the first time reports have emerged of Russia downing its own Su-35 jets.
In October 2023, the British Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update on the war in Ukraine that Russian air defense forces "highly likely shot down one of their own" Su-35 jets in a friendly-fire incident on September 28, 2023 over Tokmak, an occupied city near the front lines in the Zaporizhzhia region.
"Although Russia has lost around 90 fixed wing aircraft since the start of the invasion, this is probably only the fifth loss of a Su-35S, Russia's most advanced combat jet in widespread service," the defense ministry said in that update.
Russia didn't publicly acknowledge that incident.
In another apparent mishap this week, a Russian aircraft accidentally dropped a missile on a village in Russia's western Voronezh region on Tuesday morning, destroying multiple homes, officials said.
In a rare admission, Russia's Defense Ministry said one of its own warplanes dropped explosives on the village of Petropavlovka, damaging at least six privately owned buildings. Videos circulating on social media showed a huge crater in the ground, caused by the explosion, and scattered debris.
"At around 9:00 a.m. on January 2, while an air force plane was flying over the village of Petropavlovka in the Voronezh region, there was an emergency release of aviation munitions," the defense ministry said in a statement.
"An investigation is underway into the circumstances of the incident. A commission is working on-site to assess the nature of the damage and assist in the restoration of buildings," it added.
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Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
