Russian fighter jets and helicopters crash in mysterious circumstances
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The Russian Air Force suffered its worst losses in 14 months on Saturday when two fighter jets and two helicopters crashed in mysterious circumstances.
The Russian telegram channel constantly updates the list of plane crashes in Russia’s Bryansk region near the border with Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not initially comment on the accidents, some of which were captured on camera.
There is no official explanation for the crash, with aviation analysts and Russian military bloggers speculating that it was either a friendly fire, was brought down by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile, or was shot from the air by a Ukrainian airstrike. there is
Some commentators even suggested that the fighter plane may have crashed as a result of sabotage. The Moscow newspaper Kommersant reported that all four planes were part of a coordinated attack on Ukraine.
“Fighter planes were to carry out missile and bombing attacks on targets in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, with helicopters to support them and intercept the Sukhoi crew if they were shot down by enemy artillery fire,” it said.
Fighterbomber, a pro-Russia Telegram channel with close links to Russia’s air force, said that this was the highest number of Russian aircraft downed in a single day “since March last year”.
Russia is believed to have lost four warplanes in a single day in early March, and its forces suffered even heavier aircraft losses at the start of the invasion.
Russian media reported that nine airmen had died in the separate crashes, which involved two Mi-8 helicopters, an Su-34 fighter jet and an Su-35 fighter jet.
At least one of the helicopters was an Mi-8 MTPR-1 variant, which carries sophisticated equipment that jams enemy missile-defence systems, analysts said.
The Russian military reportedly only had 20 of these specially kitted-out helicopters in its inventory.
