Ukrainian Fighter Jet Downs Russian Drone with Air-to-Air Missile: Video

A video that has gone viral on social media purportedly shows a Ukrainian fighter jet destroying a Russian drone.

Pro-Ukrainian X user Ukrainian Front was among those who posted the short clip, filmed from an unspecified location, which shows a drone being shot down.

"Ukrainian (Mikoyan) MiG-29 fighter jet shoots down a Russian reconnaissance UAV in the south with an R-27 air-to-air missile," said the post next to the video, which as of Thursday afternoon had been viewed more than 193,000 times.

The R-27 is a guided medium-range, air-to-air missile manufactured by Ukrainian firm Artem, which is intended for integration on fourth-generation fighters such as the MiG-29, according to Air Force Technology.

No date was given for the clip which has not been independently verified. Newsweek has contacted the Russian foreign ministry for comment.

Other footage of drones has been shared online recently, sparking much reaction on social media.

In October 2022, video of a purported clash between two drones belonging to Ukrainian and Russian armed forces went viral.

The Telegram social media channel of XD Dnipr posted the clip of what it said was, "the first air battle recorded on video between Ukrainian and Russian Mavic drones." The Mavic, made by Chinese company DJI, is used by Ukrainian and Russian armed forces.

In February 2024, a viral clip showed a Ukrainian military unit winning a drone dogfight with a homemade unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the skies near Krynky on the Moscow-occupied side of the Dnieper River.

Since the start of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion, drone warfare has become an arms race between Ukraine and Russia, with the devices proving to be a valuable weapon for both sides. Ukrainian drones have hit numerous energy facilities inside Russia, as well as targets in the Crimea region.

Every development in the drones themselves requires a corresponding advance in the electronic warfare (EW) technology used to counter them and it appears that Moscow's forces are adapting quickly, Ukrainska Pravda reported Thursday.

Over the last three months, Russia has at least doubled the number of drones it is using on the front lines, according to the publication, which cited undisclosed sources from Ukraine's General Staff.

One source said Ukraine had EW systems for the 900 MHz range but Russia was now making drones with a range of 700–1000 MHz and "the means of radio-electronic warfare that we made earlier are no longer effective."