The aircraft was reportedly shot down near Alchevsk, a city in the Luhansk region – one of the areas where the war is currently focused. Alchevsk is currently under the occupation of Moscow-backed separatist forces. Videos and images shared by the Strategic Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Telegram messaging app on Monday appear to show the charred remains of a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber. A $36 million Russian Su-34 bomber was reportedly shot down by Russian forces over Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region. Above, a pair of Russian SU34 military aircraft participate in a display flight on July 18, 2017, at the annual MAKS 2017 air show in Zhukovsky, Russia. MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images In the video, the cameraman states that a Ukrainian jet was shot down, but an inscription on the military aircraft says it is a jet belonging to the Russian Air Force, local news agencies reported. Ukrainian media, including TSN, reported that a message circulated on Telegram that the Su-34 aircraft was accidentally shot down by Russian air defenses. A Telegram user named Ruslan reportedly wrote: “The jet is ours unfortunately. Sometimes it happens. I heard the info from a friend, I thought it was bulls**t, but it’s been confirmed.” “Russian air defense intruders shot down their own plane, which was flying in the sky over Alchevsk,” Ukrainian news agency dialog.ua reported, noting that the incident could have happened on Sunday when Ukraine’s armed forces fired targeted attack on the military warehouses in the occupied city. According to the Ukrainian news agency Glavred, a video of the downed Su-34 aircraft was posted on local Telegram channels, and Russians initially commented that they believed a Ukrainian plane was shot down. The video was later reportedly deleted after it became clear that it was a Russian bomber. Russian authorities have not commented on the reports. Newsweek was unable to independently verify the claims and reached out to Russia’s foreign ministry for comment. Russia’s state media reported that the Su-34 costs about $36 million per unit. Russia’s fighter jets and air force have largely underperformed throughout the war launched by President Vladimir Putin on February 24, according to Britain’s Ministry of Defense. In a separate incident in the Ukrainian city of Alchevsk last month, a video circulating on social media appeared to show the moment a Russian air defense system malfunctioned and the missile appeared to turn back toward the point from which it was launched. The missile appeared to change trajectory after launch and hit close to the system itself, local media reported on June 24. The cause of the strange malfunction was not clear.
