As of: March 2, 2024, 5:07 a.m
By: Simon Schröder
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Press
Split
After two years of war, Russia is apparently sending a Su-57 to Ukraine for the first time - but they remain cautious about the ultra-modern fighter jet.
Moscow – There has long been speculation about the use of the Russian elite Su-57 stealth bombers.
Now the rumors seem to be confirmed.
The state-of-the-art Su-57 jet was apparently used in an attack on the Luhansk region of Ukraine.
Although Russia has an extremely modern fifth-generation fighter jet up its sleeve, the fighter aircraft had not yet been flown in the Ukraine war.
The Russian Air Force is anxious not to lose any of its 21 Su-57s, which is why the aircraft has so far only flown over Russian territory.
Equipped with a cruise missile, the jet attacked a Ukrainian target
Now, however, two Su-35 jets are said to have escorted a Su-57 to target a Ukrainian target.
Unconfirmed reports said the Russian stealth jet was carrying and firing a Kh-69 missile, similar to the German Taurus missile.
Since numerous Russian Su-35 fighter jets have been shot down again and again in recent weeks, Putin's air force now seems to be taking more risks and sending the incredibly expensive Su-57 jets into the war zone.
Russian Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter jet.
A fifth generation fighter jet and therefore ultra-modern.
© Marina Lystseva via www.imago-images.de
The Su-57 first flew into Ukrainian territory - and missed its target
While the two Su-35 fighter jets escorted the stealth jet, it flew into Ukrainian airspace for the first time and fired the missile, as the news portal
Defense Blog
reports.
However, due to a malfunction, the weapon appears to have missed its target.
In addition, this attack on Ukrainian territory will also be featured in a propaganda film about the Russian military.
Furthermore, the military news site
National Interest
had speculated that it was probably an attempt by the Russian Air Force to test what Ukrainian airspace would be like before Kiev had operational F-16 Falcon jets.
In an update at the beginning of last year, the British Ministry of Defense commented on the possible use of the Su-57.
In an X-Post they said that "since at least June 2022, the Russian Air Force has almost certainly used the Su-57 to fly missions against Ukraine." were probably limited to Russian territory and from there air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles were fired into Ukrainian territory.
(SiSchr)