Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence says its forces have shot down a Russian fighter jet over the Black Sea, sharing a video of the apparent strike.Early on Wednesday, a Ukrainian special forces unit fired a man-portable air defense system, or MANPADS, at the Russian Sukhoi Su-30SM, which crashed into the sea around 44 miles northwest of Cape Tarkhankut in western Crimea, officials said in a Telegram post.According to the DI officials, the jet — costing around $50 million — belonged to the 43rd Separate Naval Aviation Regiment of the Russian army, and was based out of Saki airbase in western Crimea.The accompanying video shows aerial images before switching to what appears to be the MANPADS’ targeting view, with a fighter jet flying into its crosshairs.After a few seconds, the jet drops downwards. Very grainy footage then shows a brightly glowing dot trailing smoke.According to the post, Russian forces lost contact with the aircraft around 5 a.m. local time and launched a search and rescue operation about three hours later.It said a telltale streak of jet fuel was found on the water, as well as parts of the plane’s wreckage.Business Insider was unable to independently verify the report.The pro-Ukrainian Telegram channel Crimean Wind, which monitors developments on the peninsula, also posted about a missing Russian Su-30 jet, citing an unnamed Ukrainian army source.
The outlet reported the source as saying that the jet had been accompanied by a Su-35, and that the Su-30 launched four Kh-31P missiles while in the air, before vanishing off the radar.While Crimean Wind first said the plane was based out of Krymsk, in Russia’s Krasnodar, it then updated a post to say it was from Saki.The MANPADS — shoulder-fired antiaircraft systems with a range of around 3.2 miles — were fired from a Ukrainian vessel, Crimean Wind said.This could explain Ukraine’s ability to target the aircraft, which was not reported as being within MANPADS range from Ukrainian-held territory.The Su-30 is a multirole fighter capable of both air-to-air and air-to-ground attacks.As of Thursday, Russia has lost 370 combat aircraft since the start of its full-scale invasion, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed.Oryx, an open-source intelligence site that uses visual evidence to track weaponry losses, says it has confirmed the loss of 11 Russian Su-30s since February 2022.
